Hockaday Alumna Named Fulbright Scholar

Hockaday alumna Tanvi Jakkampudi was named a Fulbright Scholar for 2022. 

Jakkampudi, a 2018 Hockaday graduate, will graduate from Carnegie Mellon University in May with a bachelor of science in physics, with a concentration in biophysics, and a minor in biomedical engineering.

As a Fulbright scholar, she is heading to Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron in Hamburg, Germany to expand upon the biophysics research she has been involved with at both Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh for the past few years.

“I’ll be studying the mechanisms by which novel antimicrobial peptides can be used to treat biofilms formed in multi-drug resistant pulmonary bacterial infections,” said Jakkampudi. “Post-Fulbright, I plan to pursue a joint M.D./Ph.D. in immunology.”

“I met Tanvi at the end of her freshman year at Hockaday when she contacted me about participating in the Hockaday Summer Research Program,” said Dr. Barbara Fishel, Dean of Studies. “She was one of the most enthusiastic and persistent of the group of young students who joined me in our research project on soil bacteria. Tanvi’s willingness to tackle the sophisticated concepts underlying our research at a time when she had not yet taken high school chemistry or biology, underscored both her commitment to learning as well as her intellectual fearlessness.”

Hockaday alumnae have won numerous Fulbright scholarships in the past, most recently Kenya Roy ‘15, Katherine Dau ’15, and Kate Cooper ‘16.

Established in 1946 under legislation introduced by late Sen. J. William Fulbright, the Fulbright program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. The program is part of the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and provides support for academics and professionals to engage in multi-country, trans-regional projects.