September 27, 2019

Fifth-year Biomedical, Biological & Chemical Engineering doctoral candidate Janae Bradley recently earned the 2019 Dr. Donald M. Suggs Dissertation Support Fellowship.

Fifth-year Biomedical, Biological & Chemical Engineering doctoral candidate Janae Bradley recently earned the 2019 Dr. Donald M. Suggs Dissertation Support Fellowship. Photo courtesy of Janae Bradley.

This prestigious award is granted to two accomplished graduate students from underrepresented minorities who are pursuing their PhDs. She will receive a $2,000 award to aid her with her study of machine learning, data analytics and tissue engineering as well as help further her research in the treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration.

Bradley said she was honored and surprised that she received the fellowship. Her personal motto pushed her to apply.

“I’m honored. I mean, I didn’t necessarily expect that I would receive it. You kind of just go for it,” She said. “I think that’s one of the things I’ve learned. Let somebody else tell you no. Don’t take yourself out of the game.”

Last Saturday, Bradley attended the Salute to Excellence in Education Gala in St. Louis, where she was presented with the award.

She hopes to use the fellowship to attend a conference where she can present on her research pertaining to machine learning and data analytics. In the future, she plans to finish her doctorate, then continue her work either in industry or conducting research in a national lab.

“It means a lot, because hopefully, this is my last year,” she said. “My goal would be to incorporate kind of both sides of my expertise in machine learning and tissue engineering.”

The Dr. Donald M. Suggs Dissertation Support Fellowship was established in 2014 by the MU Office of Graduate Studies to honor the legacy of Dr. Donald M. Suggs who was a notable Missouri newspaper publisher, retired oral surgeon, arts patron and educational advocate.