Cancer Scholars Program student Patrick Selby, an outstanding sophomore, earned the John C. and Elizabeth J. Chato Award in Bioengineering. This award is for undergraduate students involved in activities related to bioengineering. Selby is double majoring in Bioengineering and Mechanical Science and Engineering, with a plan to pursue an MD/PhD after graduation.
“Receiving this award at this stage of my academic journey is a formative milestone for me. It allowed me to stop and appreciate everything that I have done, while also motivating me to continue setting higher standards for myself,” said Selby.
Selby is very involved on campus and is currently working on two research projects. “The first is in Cancer Center member Shuming Nie’s lab where I am developing a novel DNP based CAR T-Cell Therapy. My second project is under the mentorship of the Cancer Center’s Prof. Pool and Stephanie Dietrich, where I am investigating barriers and obstacles to cancer immunotherapy clinical trial enrollment and its effects on the drug development pipeline,” said Selby.
Patrick Selby
He is also working on a Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) related project with a campus RSO. “I’m a project manager for Illinois Medical Advancements through Design and Engineering (iMADE), and my team is working on building educational games for CCIL outreach events that reflect current CCIL researchers’ work,” said Selby.
“I would like to thank my mentors, Dr. Pool, Dr. Nie, Dr. Deckard, Stephanie, Xin, Alejandro, and Vandhana for giving me access to incredible opportunities and teaching me so much along the way. I also cannot thank my parents enough for their unwavering love and support,” said Selby.
Editor’s Note:
This article was written by Florence Lin, CCIL Communications Intern