Congratulations to Brooke Brothers and Sarah Starcovic, Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine (BMM) graduate students, for being recognized for their leadership and outreach.
Brooke Brothers, a student in the Deng Lab, is this year’s recipient of the Outstanding Leadership Award. As President of Graduate Women Advocating Science (GWAS), Brooke’s accomplishments include securing a three-year grant from the WVU Engage Giving Circle, which recently completed its successful first year. Brooke’s activities included visiting high schools to teach youth about PhD degrees and science, advocating for biomedical research at the WVU Day at the Legislature, and sponsoring sci-fi book clubs for high school students.
“I am beyond grateful to have been formally recognized by my colleagues for the 2026 Outstanding Leadership Award," Brooke shared. "I am further thankful to my fellow members of GWAS, whose incredible enthusiasm for connecting with West Virginians all over the state and advocating for science careers has been the key to this project's success.”
Sarah Starcovic, a student in the Robart Lab, is this year’s recipient of the Outstanding Service Award. Sarah worked actively with Dr. Leonardi in the BMM department to establish an outreach group called "Chat with a Scientist." These presentations focus on community-relevant topics, such as healthy brain aging and nutrition. Originally targeted at adults, these sessions use non-scientific terms to explain complex scientific ideas. Sarah recently pivoted the presentations for children, creating all the props and activities to explain how the circulatory system works. The presentation was so successful that she was requested to perform it a second time for a different group.
Sarah stated, “I am very honored to receive this award and be recognized for my work in outreach. Receiving this award shows me that I am able to use my voice to teach others about the importance of science and critical thinking in today's world.”
