RBC Awards [ Let’s Frame Your Success ]

2026 Recipient:

Yaochao Zheng – Dr. Yao, mentor

Yaochao Zheng is chasing an unexpected culprit in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), not the dying neurons themselves, but the muscle they depend on. His work focuses on microscopic packages released by muscle cells—tiny messengers meant to keep the body in sync. In ALS, he’s found, those messages may turn toxic, quietly nudging motor neurons toward failure.

It’s a striking reversal of the usual story. Instead of nerves simply wearing out, Zheng’s research suggests the breakdown may begin in muscle, with bad signals spreading inward. Even more compelling, it points to a new way forward—if those signals can be intercepted, the disease might be slowed at its source.

That mix of bold thinking and real possibility has earned him competitive support, including two University of Georgia Summer Research Grants (2023, 2025), the CAES–CVM Trainee Grant Award (2025), and recognition as a finalist for the Admera Health 10x Single-Cell Grant (2024).

At the same time, Zheng is building a way to counter the disease. He is engineering these same microscopic messengers to act as delivery vehicles—guiding gene therapies into the brain for disorders like Parkinson’s disease and ALS. By refining how they’re loaded and delivered, even sending them in through a simple nasal passage, he’s shown they can reach the brain efficiently and delay disease. The approach points toward a future where gene therapies are not only more precise, but far safer. Zheng’s work has already drawn national attention, earning a Poster Award at the 2025 American Association of Extracellular Vesicles conference, an Abstract Award at the 2025 UGA Neuroscience Symposium, and an invitation to present his findings in a featured research webinar.

2026 Recipients:

Maria Levy – Dr. West, mentor

Maria Levy teaches in a way that changes the trajectory of a class. Drawing from primary research, she designed lectures that became the backbone of a core Animal Biotechnology unit—after which student performance didn’t just hold steady, it surged, with high averages and an unusual concentration of perfect scores. But the real measure is how intentionally that success was built. Sensing where students might lose their footing, Levy created review sessions for every exam and made them available to revisit, giving students a second and third pass at difficult ideas. She also helped shape the exams themselves, ensuring that what was tested reflected what was truly learned.

In her role as a teaching assistant and guest lecturer, she has mentored more than 30 undergraduate students, guiding them not only through course material but into the early stages of their scientific careers. Many of her mentees have gone on to secure competitive next steps—from PhD programs in Regenerative Bioscience to post-baccalaureate fellowships at the NIH and placements at the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine—outcomes that reflect both her investment in their growth and her ability to recognize and cultivate potential.

As Principal Investigator on a $10,000 interdisciplinary pilot award, Levy led the development of curriculum that brings regenerative bioscience into direct conversation with translational research. Rather than treating these as separate domains, she built coursework that shows how ideas move from the lab toward real-world application, sharpening her ability to connect teaching with the pace and priorities of contemporary science.

Levy stays actively involved as the RBC GSA Community Outreach Chair and Treasurer, helping to shape both the group’s programming and its reach. She has played a key role in organizing events such as the RBC Open House, Science Olympiad Outreach Day 2025, and the West Lab table at the UGA Exhibitor Fair, and she designed mock cell culture experiments for the KITES Atlanta outreach event—introducing underserved children to hands-on STEM experiences. She also broke new ground as the first student to partner with the UGA Green Labs Initiative, organizing an RBC Supplies Drive that redirected gently used lab and office materials to the Teacher Reuse store in Athens.

Morgane Golan – Dr. Stice, mentor

Students keep returning to the same idea—her teaching captures their attention, makes difficult material feel within reach, and pushes them to think in ways they hadn’t before, often reshaping how they understand the subject altogether.

“Dr. Golan is an amazing instructor. She is so passionate about the subject area, and her in-class activities were super engaging and always helped me to learn. She is one of my favorite instructors I have had at UGA. I enjoyed talking to her during office hours, and she was always super willing to help and showed that she wanted us to succeed in the class.” —Testimonial from RBIO student

Faculty mentors have steadily entrusted Golan with greater responsibility because she can take even the most tangled and intimidating concepts and make them come alive—vivid, approachable, and unforgettable for her students. For example, as a teaching assistant, she developed a long-term active reading project called “The Biotech Toolbox,” a study companion that lets students step into the shoes of real scientists. Instead of memorizing methods, students dig into research papers, figure out the techniques behind the discoveries, and build their own personal “toolbox” of skills and knowledge. Over the semester, this growing guide becomes a study companion they’ve crafted themselves, helping them understand, remember, and actually use the core tools of biotechnology.

The success of what Golan calls the Biotech Toolbox has opened the door to sharing her work with a wider audience, culminating in a manuscript now under review at CourseSource, a peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to science education.

Golan was recognized with the 2025 UGA Excellence in Teaching Award (the top teaching honor for graduate students), named a 2024 Future Faculty Fellow by the UGA Center for Teaching and Learning, and has earned teaching certificates through both the UGA CTL and the Johns Hopkins Teaching Institute.

She was also recognized with the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center for Cell Manufacturing Technologies Curriculum Enhancement Award, the UGA Engaged Scholarship by Graduate Students Award, and the UGA CTL Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, an honor earned by only 10% of graduate TAs each year.

Golan has guided seven students through CURO assistantships, the CAES Undergraduate Research Initiative, REU programs, and long-term research roles in the Stice Laboratory, as well as mentoring undergraduates in the classroom as teaching assistants. She has also trained three undergraduate TAs in the Introductory Regenerative Bioscience course, showing them how to teach science with clarity and confidence. Many of her mentees have gone on to earn competitive fellowships, present their work at research symposia, and receive recognition on both national and international stages.

Steven Stice, director of the RBC, reflected on Golan’s impact, saying, “Morgane approaches outreach as a form of connection, not a task. For her, public engagement is more than communication—it’s an opportunity to spark curiosity and foster understanding. She has a rare gift for making complex science accessible, and her impact is evident in the networks she builds and the lasting curiosity she ignites in those she mentors.”

2026 Recipients:

Erika Brittany Bowen – Dr. Gomillion, mentor

There is a consistency in how Erika Brittany Bowen shows up beyond her research—mentoring students, building outreach efforts, and engaging the public in ways that make science feel less distant and more possible.

Bowen’s community engagement moves fluidly between classrooms and laboratories, connecting young students and undergraduates to the mechanics—and the wonder—of science. At the Annual Science Night at Marietta High School, she represented the Cell Manufacturing Technologies (CMaT) program, an RBC-affiliated grant initiative, guiding over 60 students and family members through hands-on experiments. Participants pipetted samples, observed microcarriers spinning in her bioreactor, and examined how these systems underpin advances in regenerative medicine. The evening was less a demonstration than an invitation—to see, touch, and imagine what science makes possible.

At the 2024 and 2025 UGA Science Olympiads, Bowen led four interactive cell-culture sessions per year, each accommodating roughly 15 attendees. Between demonstrations, she shared insights into the RBC’s newest undergraduate major, RBIO, connecting the experiments to real-world scientific pathways.

For the Engineering Academic Boot Camp (EABC), she directed a two-day laboratory module for the 2023, 2024, and 2025 cohorts, mentoring 10–15 incoming first-year engineering majors each summer. Over these sessions, students learned stem cell culture techniques, practiced microscopy, explored breast cancer models, and mastered laboratory organization— an early, hands-on lesson in what it means to think and work like a scientist.

These highlights capture only the more deliberate, high-profile events and leave out Bowen’s daily engagement across the College of Engineering and the RBC, as well as the frequent lab tours she offers to UGA student organizations and Clarke County schools.

Bowen writes for the Athens Science Observer, a UGA student-led, peer-reviewed online blog. Her article, The U.S. Blood Shortage: Why This Crisis Matters, has likely reached thousands of readers both online and through local print features in Neighbors of Oconee.

Through the UGA Mentorship Program, Bowen has mentored 10 undergraduates across engineering, biology, psychology, and regenerative medicine over multiple years. Many went on to secure undergraduate research positions, internships, and scholarships after working with Bowen. By way of the CMaT Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), Bowen mentored six full-time summer students from 2023 to 2025. She is approaching two years as RegenX Lab Manager, a role in which she onboards new undergraduate and graduate researchers, implements structured lab-training workflows, and cultivates a welcoming environment that builds student confidence and supports professional growth in her RBC-affiliated lab.

Beyond the laboratory, Bowen has devoted hundreds of hours to service addressing fundamental community needs. With Habitat for Humanity, she contributed to affordable housing initiatives, and at Concrete Jungle Athens, she assisted in harvesting and distributing fresh produce to families facing food insecurity in Clarke County. She has also volunteered with the 1,000 Dreams Fund and at LANFest during MomoCon 2024, supporting the Bring-Your-Own-Computer (BYOC) program, with proceeds benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Across these efforts, Bowen combines hands-on labor with strategic support, amplifying impact in both immediate and lasting ways.

Morgane Golan – Dr. Stice, mentor

Golan’s engagement has rippled across the RBIO community and beyond, opening new channels for teacher collaboration, elevating the RBC’s presence throughout Georgia, and shaping scholarly conversations on the practice and promise of community-engaged science education.

A defining example of Golan’s engagement is the inaugural Regenerative Bioscience Open House, a statewide event she co-conceived and organized with support from the RBC-affiliated CMaT grant. More than 55 participants attended, including high school teachers, 22 graduate students, and 10 faculty members, all drawn into a carefully designed experience that highlighted the intersections of research, education, and community. Golan is now developing a manuscript that positions the Open House as a model of reciprocal exchange between higher education and the public—an approach intended to be adapted and replicated across CMaT and other departments, demonstrating how structured engagement can both inform and inspire.

Throughout her PhD, Golan has been deeply involved in nearly all RBC volunteer and outreach events. In the past year alone, she participated in roughly 10–12 activities, serving as an RBC representative, presenter, or volunteer at events including the Georgia Science Olympiad, CAES Harvest from the Hill, the HOSA Georgia Leadership Conference, and the Georgia Agricultural/Science Teachers Tour.

Golan has held multiple leadership roles within the RBC Graduate Student Association throughout her doctoral training, including President, Social Events Coordinator, and Treasurer. She continues to support the current board, particularly in finances and community engagement. Her leadership reflects sustained, meaningful service to the RBC community over several years.

Golan designed and hosted the RBC booth, Regeneration Nation, at STEMzone in 2023, engaging hundreds of families during a UGA football home game. In 2022, she organized RBC Reads in partnership with the Athens-Clarke County Public Library, introducing young children and families to science through story time and researcher interaction. She also coordinated the RBC Athens leg of the American Brain Tumor Association 5K, managing logistics, volunteers, and participant engagement. Between Athens and Atlanta, the event drew 195 participants and raised over $32,000 to support brain tumor research and patient services.

Golan has pursued community engagement with insight and intentionality, completing the UGA Office of Service-Learning (OSL) Graduate Portfolio in Community Engagement, a formal certification reflecting both scholarly knowledge and hands-on experience. Earlier this year, she was recognized with the UGA Engaged Scholarship Award and serves on the UGA Strategic Planning Committee. Golan has designed and led initiatives that connect K–12 students, teachers, families, and community partners across Georgia, consistently shaping programs that deliver tangible benefits and lasting connections.

A central component of Golan’s K–12 outreach was her collaboration with Stan Harrison, a secondary instructor, biotechnologist, and CMaT trainee. While Stan was on medical leave, Golan stepped in to deliver a series of guest lectures for his biotechnology course, ensuring continuity for his students. Stan remarked that Golan’s teaching left a lasting impression. Several students followed her work, later attending the RBIO Open House and expressing interest in UGA’s regenerative bioscience major and CMaT summer programs.

2026 Recipients:

Noah Klugman – Dr. Karumbaiah, mentor

Noah Klugman approaches research the way it is meant to be done—by first asking what, precisely, is worth measuring, and then committing to the discipline required to measure it well. He played a central role in the planning and execution of a longitudinal rodent TBI study, extending through four months post-injury. Before the study began, he conducted a thorough review of the literature to identify the behavioral assays best suited to capture meaningful outcome measures of motor and sensorimotor recovery following TBI. From there, he executed the study end to end—running cohorts, maintaining consistency across testing, and taking full ownership of the data pipeline. His analysis of behavioral recordings was not just careful but interpretive, producing results that are now shaping manuscripts in preparation.

What distinguishes Klugman further is his ability to carry that same precision into how he communicates science. Across multiple symposia, he has presented his work with a level of control and clarity that makes complex findings accessible without oversimplifying them. His efforts have been recognized with the CURO Award and the CAES Undergraduate Research Initiative (Spring and Fall 2025), second place for undergraduate poster presentations at the RBC/ADS Symposium, and the Experiential Learning Scholar and Scholarship (Spring 2026). The recognition he has received reflects not just strong performance, but a developing instinct for what matters in research—and how to make it count.

Matthew Campbell – Dr. Call, mentor

Matt Campbell has distinguished himself through a rare combination of technical skill, persistence, and collaborative initiative. Through the Call lab, Campbell began his research with Dr. Gordon Warren at Georgia State, performing three-point bending tests to assess tibial integrity following volumetric muscle loss. He then joined a cross-lab project with Dr. Nikolay Filipov, investigating the effects of Gulf War Illness-related neurotoxins on mouse liver and skeletal muscle. When the lab had never worked with hepatic tissue before, Campbell spent weeks troubleshooting homogenization protocols, coordinating closely with teammates to establish conditions that produced reliable, meaningful data—work that became the foundation of his undergraduate thesis.

Campbell’s collaborative strengths extend beyond the lab. He spent long days coordinating with external collaborators for bone testing in Atlanta, carefully scheduling time around his classes to ensure full participation. On multiple occasions, he arrived early to the Call lab, ready to work alongside graduate students or independently analyze data while waiting for others—demonstrating remarkable reliability and dedication. His dedication in the lab ultimately culminated in the publication of a paper in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research. At Arch Orthopedic and Spine in Watkinsville, he supports patient care through gathering patient information, brace fitting, and procedure prep, while with Extra Special People (ESP) of Athens, he assists in adaptive activities for individuals with disabilities. Campbell’s emerging scholarship reflects not just technical excellence, but a deep commitment to working collaboratively, supporting others, and advancing research and community initiatives with equal care.  

Diya Garrepally – Dr. Yao, mentor

Diya has distinguished herself as an emerging scholar through a rare combination of scientific creativity, persistence, and leadership. In the lab, she reinvigorated a project investigating plant-derived nanovesicles as a drug delivery platform for ALS, mastering the meticulous process of vesicle isolation and demonstrating an ability to translate complex, novel concepts into meaningful, actionable experiments. Her dedication has already earned national recognition, having won first place at the CAES Undergraduate Research Symposium and receiving a full travel award to present her work at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists. She has since expanded her research to study green tea-derived nanoparticles for gum tissue regeneration, at the Dental College of Georgia with Dr. Stephen Hsu.

Garrepally’s impact extends far beyond the bench. Academically, she is one of only a few recipients of the Foundation Fellowship and Stamps Scholarship and has been recognized as a UGA Presidential Scholar and member of the Dean William Tate Honors Society. Her commitment to service is equally impressive, as she has volunteered in Maasai Mara, Kenya, supporting dental care access, organized local community initiatives like the Backpack Project, and mentored neurodivergent students through GRIT Powered. Even as a podcast host, she pursues the same discipline and attention to detail that defines her research. Across research, academics, and community engagement, Garrepally combines curiosity, resilience, and thoughtful leadership, marking her as an emerging scholar of exceptional promise.