Kyrillos Abdallah (’27 PhD, MB&B) Awarded Prestigious HHMI Gilliam Fellowship
The Graduate School is proud to announce that Kyrillos Abdallah, a PhD candidate in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, has been selected as a recipient of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Gilliam Fellowship. This fellowship recognizes exceptional achievements in scientific research and acknowledges student potential as a future leader in their respective field. Abdallah has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to scientific integrity and excellence, as well as dedication to improving the scientific community.
The HHMI Gilliam Fellowship provides recipients with financial support, mentorship, and professional development opportunities, and is designed to foster diversity and inclusivity in the sciences. This prestigious fellowship recognizes exceptional students from historically excluded and underrepresented groups in science and empowers them with the resources they need to excel in their academic pursuits and beyond. The awardee’s adviser also serves as a Gilliam Adviser, participating in a year-long culturally responsive mentorship development course. Additionally, advisers receive a modest award to address challenges to diversity and inclusion at the graduate level.
Abdallah has shown enormous dedication in his research under the guidance of Wendy Gilbert, Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. Abdallah’s work focuses on illuminating unusual (also called "non-canonical") mechanisms of initiating protein synthesis in human cells, a process that is highly regulated in healthy cells and frequently disturbed in cancer. In addition to illuminating a fundamental and fascinating aspect of gene expression, Abdallah's thesis research could have important implications for society: by identifying sequences that can efficiently initiate protein synthesis from circular RNAs, Abdallah may be able to engineer a superior, long-lived backbone for therapeutic mRNAs.
Abdallah’s adviser, Professor Gilbert describes him as, “a deep and rigorous thinker who pursues research with intense focus and evident joy.” She notes that Abdallah is a leader in campus efforts to advance equity for students from underrepresented, marginalized and stigmatized backgrounds. Abdallah's current DEI work includes serving as a recruitment mentor for Yale’s BBS Diversity and Inclusion Collective, as an academic mentor for the First Year Scholars program that supports undergraduate students who will be the first in their family to graduate from college, and as a very active member of MB&B’s departmental committee to enhance Climate and Diversity.
The HHMI Gilliam Fellowship recognizes the outstanding abilities of Abdallah as an emerging scientist and exemplifies the exceptional support and mentorship provided by Graduate School faculty. The Graduate School congratulates Abdallah on his well-deserved achievements and remains dedicated to fostering the next generation of scientific leaders.