Epstein, Bade are NU Presidential Graduate Fellows

Crystal Epstein	Aditya Bade

University of Nebraska President Hank Bounds, Ph.D., announced Wednesday the six recipients of 2015-16 Presidential Graduate Fellowships, which included two students from UNMC:

• Crystal Epstein of Columbus, a Ph.D. student in nursing; and
• Aditya Bade of Pathardi, India, a Ph.D. student in pharmacology and neuroscience.

These prestigious fellowships honor a select group of NU graduate students each year on the basis of high scholastic performance and personal accomplishment. Fellows receive a stipend provided through the University of Nebraska Foundation that allows them to pursue their studies full time.

“The students who receive Presidential Graduate Fellowships represent the highest level of success at the graduate level. We are incredibly proud of the work they do, and we are fortunate to have a level of private support that allows them to fully devote themselves to their studies and research,” Bounds said. “These students are already making important contributions to their fields that are benefiting the university and people in the state and beyond. I’m eager to see what they accomplish in the future.”

Epstein is a board-certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. Her clinical and research area of interest is maternal-child mental health. The specific focus of her doctoral research is how maternal coping strategies influence stress-related health outcomes in pregnancy. Her long-term career goals are to teach in a college of nursing and to contribute research toward improving mental health outcomes among mothers and their children. Epstein has completed Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) through UNMC’s Munroe-Meyer Institute and is involved in a state-funded health policy project to improve access to mental health services among children in Nebraska.

Bade received his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University in India. He will earn his Ph.D. from UNMC with a thesis titled “Development of a Manganese-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MEMRI) Biomarker for Neuroinfectious and Neuroinflammatory Diseases.”

Bade will use his scholarship to make significant progress in developing the applications of the MEMRI tool in rodent models of neurodegenerative diseases. Bade has earned several awards, including the Young Investigator Award (2015). He has published in scholarly journals and presented at the national and international levels. Bade represented UNMC by presenting his research at the International Student Research Forum, once in 2013 in Australia, and again in 2014 in Denmark. In addition to research, Bade has volunteered his time organizing, developing, and executing leadership and community outreach activities at UNMC.