News Releases
WPI Graduate Nicholas McBride Named NIH-Oxford/Cambridge Biomedical Research Scholar
Received Degree during WPI's May 19 Commencement Exercises
For Immediate Release / May 23, 2007
Contact:
Lorraine U. Martinelle, Public Relations Specialist, +1-508-831-6425, lurbans@wpi.edu
Eileen Brangan Mell, Director of Public Relations, +1-508-831-6785, ebmell@wpi.edu
Nicholas S. McBride '07 at WPI's Commencement on Saturday, May 19.
WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) graduate Nicholas S. McBride '07 has been named a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-Oxford/Cambridge Biomedical Research Scholar. The interdisciplinary program is devoted to the training of up to six outstanding American students in biomedical research leading to a doctoral degree awarded by the University of Oxford or University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
McBride, a biomedical engineering major from East Falmouth, Mass., who graduated from WPI on May 19, was active in research and extracurricular activities during his time at the university. He was a member of Tau Beta Pi, the university's biomedical and pre-health societies, and Engineers Without Borders, a non-profit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide to improve their quality of life. For his senior project, McBride developed cardiac patches that regenerate heart tissue. He has also conducted research at Total ReCord, a Worcester biomedical firm, as well as the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
As a junior, McBride was a member of a WPI student team in Namibia, Africa that collaborated with shack-dwellers and developed community-based solutions to control flooding and erosion in the village of Windhoek. The project recently received first place in WPI's President's IQP Awards competition.
"Throughout the project in Namibia, Nick showed passion and talent for research that helps others, which is why I'm pleased he will have the opportunity to be a NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholar," says Richard Vaz, dean of WPI's Interdisciplinary Global Studies Division. "Nick intends to use his technical and scientific knowledge to address public health challenges that affect large, underserved populations. I can't think of a better goal, or of a student who shows so much promise for achieving that goal."
McBride will decide this summer whether he will enroll at either Oxford or Cambridge.
About the NIH Program
As a collaborative program between NIH laboratories in the United States and the UK universities, students are provided with the opportunity to work at NIH and one of these institutions. Student research projects are co-mentored by a research investigator at NIH and a faculty member at Oxford or Cambridge. NIH-Oxford/Cambridge students spend approximately half their time at Oxford or Cambridge and half at NIH in Maryland, although the nature of the research dictates the specific division of time. While at NIH, graduate students are immersed in a rich, scientific environment in which more than 1,200 investigators and 3,600 postdoctoral fellows conduct research in state-of-the-art facilities. NIH-Oxford/Cambridge program scholars have a variety of fields from which to choose for their research, and participants receive a stipend and medical insurance during the course of their study.
About Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Founded in 1865 in Worcester, Mass., WPI was one of the nation's first engineering and technology universities. WPI's 18 academic departments offer more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, engineering, technology, management, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts, leading to the BA, BS, MS, ME, MBA and PhD. WPI's world-class faculty work with students in a number of cutting-edge research areas, leading to breakthroughs and innovations in such fields as biotechnology, fuel cells, and information security, materials processing, and nanotechnology. Students also have the opportunity to make a difference to communities and organizations around the world through the university's innovative Global Perspective Program. There are more than 20 WPI project centers throughout North America and Central America, Africa, Australia, Asia, and Europe.