The Beckman Institute has recognized a new cohort of seven Beckman Institute Graduate Fellowship recipients. These students are working on projects related to material science, chemistry, brain functions, cancer and other diseases. Read on to learn more about this year’s fellowship recipients and their research.

Julius Benson

Julius Benson is a fifth-year Ph.D. student studying biophysics at Illinois. He previously earned his B.S. in neuroscience from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 2015. 

Cognitive aging, or the decline in cognitive abilities such as memory and executive function as a person ages, has been a topic of research interest for decades. Cognitive aging is still poorly understood. Factors such as an individual’s metabolism and overall physiology can vary significantly. This makes finding suitable research subjects difficult for scientists.  

Recently, GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy — used for managing diabetes and weight control — have shown some correlation with slowing cognitive decline and other symptoms associated with aging. 

In addition to observing these supposed effects in real time, Benson plans to investigate how energy metabolism and neurological physiology intertwine with a new kind of framework known as learning efficiency, which measures the energy it takes to apply cognitive skills such as problem solving, processing new information and retaining previously given information.

Using learning efficiency, researchers like Benson hope to improve detection time and measure signs of cognitive decline earlier, possibly finding common patterns across individuals and determining the best time for treatment intervention.

Benson is collaborating with adviser Jozien Goense, a professor of bioengineering; Howard Gritton, a professor of neuroscience; and Daniel Llano, a professor of molecular and cellular biology. 

Faith Kern

Faith Kern is a third-year chemistry Ph.D. student at Illinois. She earned her B.S. in chemistry, with minors in Spanish and communication studies, from the University of Florida in 2024. 

When materials like metal or plastic are placed under stress, such as bending or twisting, the physical appearance of the object changes, and the molecular bonds at the core of the material are shifted in the process. 

Using a force-responsive molecule known as a mechanophore, Kern and other researchers can more accurately learn how these complex networks of chemical bonds respond to physical force loads. By conducting these observations, researchers can more accurately understand how plastic materials deform. 

Kern is collaborating with adviser Jeffrey Moore, a professor emeritus of chemistry and a Stanley O. Ikenberry Endowed Chair Emeritus of chemistry; adviser Nancy Sottos, a Maybelle Leland Swanlund Endowed Chair of material sciences and engineering; Randy Ewoldt, an Alexander Rankin Professor of mechanical science and engineering; and Sameh Tawfick, a professor of mechanical science and engineering. 

Athira Kunnath Vijayakumar

Athira Vijayakumar is a fifth-year Ph.D. student in physics at the University of Illinois. She graduated with a joint B.S. and M.S. in physics from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, in 2020.

Chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and cancer often begin with changes in metabolism long before anatomical damage becomes apparent. These metabolic shifts span a range of timescales. Some unfold over weeks, which no existing imaging tool can track. Athira and collaborators are addressing this gap by combining magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging with isotope labeling track these changes over time using medical imaging.

Her goal is to translate this MRSI technique into a tool available to scan the brain in a doctor’s office. She’s using the 7 Tesla MRI scanner located at the Carle Illinois Advanced Imaging Center, which is co-owned by Carle Health and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. It’s the highest resolution FDA-approved scanner in the state of Illinois.

Athira currently collaborates with adviser Fan Lam, a professor of bioengineering;  Gene Robinson, a Maybelle Leland Swanlund Endowed Chair of entomology, and Andrew Webb, a professor of bioengineering.

Muhammad Musozoda

Muhammad Musozoda is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In 2023, he graduated from Oswego State with a B.S. in chemistry and a minor in business administration, then earned his M.S. in chemistry in 2025.

Organic photovoltaics are solar cells that convert sunlight into electricity using organic semiconductor materials. Their molecular structures can be tuned, offering opportunities to develop lightweight, flexible and semitransparent photovoltaic devices. However, achieving both high performance and long-term operational stability remains a significant challenge.

Musozoda is using blocc chemistry, a modular synthesis platform developed by the Burke Lab wherein prefabricated bloccs are linked together in a repeating cycle through carbon–carbon bond formation. Musozoda is applying this approach to investigate the relationship between molecular sequence, efficiency of organic solar cells and photostability. The resulting structure–function relationships will be used to develop machine learning models for molecular design.

Musozoda is collaborating with Martin Burke, a May and Ving Lee professor of chemistry and biomedical and translational science, and Ying Diao, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. 

Wenjing Song

Wenjing Song is a fifth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Illinois. Previously, Song obtained both a B.S. and an M.S. in electronic science and technology from Hunan University. 

Researchers believe abnormal metabolic activity may be one of the earliest signs of cancer, emerging before rapid cell division occurs. Song is developing miniature coils that can be placed close to certain tissues within the body to improve magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy. These microcoils could help researchers better identify metabolic differences between normal and cancerous tissues.

Song collaborates with Cunjiang Yu, a professor of mechanical engineering and a Founder Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and bioengineering’s Fan Lam. 

Kerui “Kerry” Xu

Kerry Xu is a sixth-year analytical chemistry Ph.D. student at Illinois. Xu graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in chemistry in 2020. 

Alzheimer’s disease is a major neurodegenerative disease that affects a significant portion of people older than 65. Though the condition is complex and still not well understood, researchers have recently begun to focus on the beta-amyloid peptide as a major component of the neurotoxic plaques that cause Alzheimer’s disease.

Scientists now believe that amyloid-targeting agents may alleviate some of or potentially all the disease’s symptoms. Xu’s research seeks to study these agents closely using techniques such as two-photon microscopy. This technique makes it easier to find and analyze the correlation between plaque presence and metabolic changes that stem from releasing the plaque peptide-targeting agents into the body. 

Xu currently collaborates with Liviu Mirica, a William H. and Janet G. Lycan professor of chemistry; molecular and cellular biology’s Daniel Llano; and Martha Gillette, a professor of cell and developmental biology.

Junxi Yi

Junxi Yi is currently a fifth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Bioengineering at Illinois. Yi graduated with his B.S. in chemical biology from University of Science and Technology of China in 2022. 

Causing more than 30,000 deaths annually in the United States alone, liver cancer has one of the highest mortality rates out of all cancers. Treatment options are limited, as many of these tumors show resistance to the most common types of immune therapies. The deeper tissues of the liver lack these active immune cells.

Yi and other researchers are developing a way to use focused ultrasound to activate immune-stimulating molecules at the tumor site in the liver. By controlling where these molecules become active, this approach aims to strengthen the immune response against cancer while limiting unwanted effects elsewhere in the body.

Yi currently collaborates with adviser Yun-Sheng Chen, a professor of computer and electrical engineering, and chemistry’s Jeff Moore.