This Year's Recipients
2025 Recipients
Samuel Ampaw is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Global Poverty Research Lab (GPRL) at Northwestern University and is working toward a Master of Science in global health. He obtained a PhD in Economics, with a concentration in Health and Development Economics. He aims to participate in research addressing global health inequities by highlighting the challenges faced by marginalized groups. Growing up in Ghana, he witnessed firsthand the health care challenges faced by individuals from low-income families. During the COVID-19 outbreak, he volunteered with the COVID-19 Prevention and Control Support Team at the University of Nottingham’s campus in China.
Shakena (Kena) Bilbrew is the Associate Center Administrator at Feinberg’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute and is working towards a Master of Science in healthcare administration. Her goal is to oversee a department or unit at Northwestern University or within Northwestern Medicine. She has received the Service Excellence Award, the Stellar Staff Award and is very involved in several mentoring organizations at Northwestern and with the Feinberg Forward program. She is also an active member of Zeta Phi Beta, Inc. in the Rockford community.
Kathryn Zamiela is a Systems Analyst in the office of Business and Finance. She is pursuing a Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medicine Certificate (21-month track) and plans to apply to Northwestern's Driskill Life Sciences Graduate Program for a PhD in biomedical research, focusing on endometriosis. She hopes to use that degree to develop new diagnostics and treatments so that future women and girls can pursue their dreams free of disease. She presents monthly research articles as a member of the Northwestern Pre-Health Research Journal Club (PRJC) and has also presented for Northwestern’s Science with Seniors program. She volunteers in a microbiome lab at the University of Illinois-Chicago and also has a master’s in library and information science.