P.D. Soros Fellowship for New Americans

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Meet the Fellows
Meet the Fellows

Meet the Class of 2023

The 2023 Class of Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows is made up of 30 outstanding immigrants and children of immigrants from all over the country and world who are pursuing graduate school here in the United States. Selected from nearly 2,000 applicants, each of the recipients was chosen for their potential to make significant contributions to the United States and will receive up to $90,000 in funding over two years. Interested in applying? Learn more here.

The 2023 Fellows include three DACA recipients, two asylees, and two children of refugees. The Fellows have heritage from more than 15 countries and this class includes our first Sri Lankan Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow. 

Eight of the 2023 Fellows are first-generation college graduates, and as a class they attended 18 different undergraduate universities.

The class includes the first Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows to have graduated from Essex County Community College, Agnes Scott College, Berea College, and the University of New Hampshire. The 2023 Class also includes the first Fellow to pursue a graduate degree at the USC Annenberg School of Communication & Journalism and the first Fellow to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Pittsburgh. The 2023 Fellows also include the Fellowship's first recipients to pursue an MFA in printmedia, an MFA in screenwriting, a PhD in communication, and a PhD in Chicana/o and Central American Studies. 

The 2023 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows
We work with a group of experienced readers and panelists who help us select our 30 Fellows each year.
1,976
Number of Applications Received
In 2023, we received nearly 2,000 applications.
77
Number of finalists selected
Each year we select 77 finalists who participate in 2 selection interviews.
30
Number of 2023 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows
Each year we select 30 Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows to join our community. Each Fellow receives up to $90,000 towards their graduate education.
  • A headshot of Ashri who is smiling at the camera.

 

Ashri Anurudran 

MD student at Harvard University

Child of immigrants from Sri Lanka; emigrated from the United Kingdom and Malaysia; Harvard graduate; aspiring physician-advocate committed to advancing gender equity in global health.

  • A headshot of Kidist Ashami who is smiling at the camera, wearing a black blouse and red glasses.
Kidist Ashami

PhD in biological & biomedical sciences at Harvard University

Emigrated from Ethiopia at age 17; wrote her asylum case on a borrowed laptop at 18; Berea College graduate; working to develop effective therapeutics for cancer.

  • A headshot of Beshouy Botros who is staring at the camera and wearing a white blouse.

Beshouy Botros

PhD in history at Yale University

Emigrated from Egypt at age 5; Pomona College graduate; researching the centrality of Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco within the emergence of trans medicine.

  • A headshot of Yehimi Cambron who is looking directly at the camera and wearing a red turtleneck

Yehimi Cambrón Álvarez 

MFA in printmedia at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

DACA recipient from Mexico; Agnes Scott College graduate; Teach For America Metro-Atlanta corps member; artist and public speaker based in Atlanta and working nationally.

  • A headshot of Zhanlin (Flynn) Chen who is looking at the camera and smiling and wearing a light pink collared shirt.

Zhanlin Chen

MD student at Northwestern University

Emigrated from China at age 12; Yale graduate; interned at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; bringing supercomputing to the bedside to solve the complex problems in medicine.

  • A headshot of Tan Dao who is looking at the camera, wearing a blue collared shirt and glasses.

Tan Dao

PhD student in physics at Harvard University

Emigrated from Vietnam at age 11; University of New Hampshire graduate; working to synthesize novel quantum materials and studying their electronic properties at the atomic scale.

  • A headshot of Desmond Edwards who is smiling at the camera and wearing glasses and a two-toned blue shirt.

Desmond Edwards

PhD in microbiology & immunology at Stanford University

Emigrated from Jamaica at age 18; MIT graduate; interested in human disease and developing novel therapeutic options for their treatment and prevention.

  • A headshot of Freja Ekman who is wearing a white collared shirt and a black blazer and smiling at the camera.

Freja Ekman

MD/PhD in genetics at Stanford University

Immigrant from Sweden and Norway; UC Berkeley graduate; working to develop new genome editing tools to treat hematological diseases and other rare genetic diseases.

  • A headshot of Dhruv Gaur who is wearing a collared shirt with a floral pattern.

Dhruv Gaur

PhD in economics at MIT

Child of immigrants from India; Brown graduate; won Jeopardy! College Championship tournament; studying the effects of severe marginalization on health.

  • A headshot of Ricardo Guajardo who is smiling, wearing black glasses, and a dark orange sweater with a button up collar.

Ricardo Guajardo

MD/PhD in neuroscience at UC San Francisco

Emigrated from Mexico at age 8; Stanford graduate; studying how the brain stores and processes memories to better understand neurodegenerative and psychiatric conditions.

  • A headshot of Silvia Huerta Lopez who is wearing a light lavender collared shirt and a black blazer.

Silvia Huerta Lopez

MD/PhD in biological sciences at Harvard University

Emigrated from Mexico at age 6; Essex County College and Penn graduate; co-founded Quetzales de Salud, an organization focusing on medical care for undocumented immigrants.

  • A headshot of Philsan Isaak who is smiling at the camera and wearing a white collared shirt and a light brown blazer.

Philsan Isaak

JD at Yale University

Child of immigrants from Somalia; graduated from the University of Minnesota at 18; interested in understanding and sharing the stories of overlooked human rights abuses.

  • A headshot of Kathrin Kajderowicz who is wearing brown glasses and a light blue collared shirt and a darker blue sweater.

Kathrin Kajderowicz

PhD in neuroscience at MIT

Child of immigrants from Poland; Cornell graduate; researching hibernating organisms’ cells to engineer human cells to do the same; founder of biotech group, DNA Deviants.

  • A headshot of Jaspreet Kaur who is staring at the camera and wearing a collared shirt and white blouse.
Jaspreet Kaur

MFA in writing for screen & television at the University of Southern California

DACA recipient from India; Harvard graduate; Brown Girl Joy Productions co-founder; creating films to uplift intersectional narratives of underrepresented communities.

  • A headshot of Omair Khan who is smiling at the camera and wearing a white collared shirt, red tie and black blazer.

Omair M. Khan

MD/PhD in stem cell biology & regenerative medicine at Stanford University

Child of immigrants from India; authored his first scientific publications in high school; Yale graduate; working in policy and venture capital while he pursues a career as a physician-scientist. 

  • A headshot of Anna Li who is smiling at the camera

Anna Li 

MD/PhD in computational biology at the University of Pittsburgh & Carnegie Mellon University

Child of immigrants from China; Duke graduate; researches bacteriophage therapy for PhD; founder/CEO of Korion Health, a startup that bridges gaps in healthcare access and literacy.

  • A headshot of Adriana Echeverria Gonzalez who is smiling at the camera and wearing a dark blazer.

Adriana Liimakka

MD/MBI in biomedical informatics at Harvard University

Emigrated from Colombia after high school; Columbia graduate; studying the genetics of musculoskeletal complications and healthcare disparities.

  • A headshot of Jimmy Lin who is wearing a red tie, white collared shirt, and blue suit jacket.

Jimmy Lin

PhD in economics at MIT

Child of immigrants from China; Harvard graduate; award-winning thesis on the COVID labor supply shock; combining mathematical theory with data analysis to design better public institutions.

  • A headshot of Nathan Mallipeddi who is smiling at the camera and wearing a white collared shirt and black blazer.

Nathan Mallipeddi

MD/MBA at Harvard University and Stanford University

Child of immigrants from India; UCLA graduate; founded Myspeech to connect people who stutter with critical speech therapy resources; biotechnology investor.

  • A headshot of Eana Meng who is smiling at the camera and wearing a burnt orange top.

Eana Xuyi Meng

MD/PhD in history of science at Harvard University

Child of immigrants from China; Harvard graduate; practices history and medicine; illuminating complementary histories of complementary medicines; works with Tolbert Small.

  • A headshot of Arjun Menta who is wearing a white doctor's coat, a blue collared shirt and a dark a blue tie.

Arjun Menta 

MD at Johns Hopkins University

Child of immigrants from India; UT Austin graduate; holds multiple patents; accomplished researcher leading multiple scienctific and translational efforts in neurosurgery. 

  • A headshot of Vaibhav Mohanty who is wearing a suit jacket and collared shirt and is smiling at the camera.

Vaibhav Mohanty

MD/PhD in chemistry at Harvard University and MIT

Child of immigrants from India; Harvard graduate; accomplished composer; theoretical physicist aspiring to develop novel therapeutic approaches to combat evolving diseases. 

  • A headshot of Juliet Nwagwu Ume Ezeoke who is smiling at the camera and wearing a colorful collared blouse.

Juliet Nwagwu Ume-Ezeoke

PhD in civil & environmental engineering at Stanford University

Emigrated from Senegal and Nigeria at age 11; Harvard graduate; hopes to build affordable, sustainable, and beautiful built environments for communites across the globe.

  • A headshot of Janel Pineda who is smiling at the camera and wearing a black blouse.

Janel Pineda

PhD in Chicana/o & Central American studies at UC Los Angeles

Child of immigrants from El Salvador; Dickinson graduate; poet, organizer, and author of Lineage of Rain; researching poetry's liberatory capacities for migrant families. 

  • A headshot of Shyamala Ramakrishna who is staring at the camera with a closed-lp smile and wearing a light green-grey shirt with a buttoned collar.

Shyamala Ramakrishna

JD at Yale University 

Child of Tamil immigrants from India; Yale graduate; focused on workers' rights and future of work policy; lead vocalist in her band, FORAGER. 

  • A headshot of Jermaine Anthony Richards who is smiling at the camera and wearing a dark green cardigan over a buttoned blue collared shirt.
Jermaine Anthony Richards

PhD in communication at the University of Southern California

Child of immigrants from Jamaica; CUNY York College graduate; award-winning social impact producer; researching how transmedia storytelling animates human security politics.

  • A headshot of Steven Truong who is smiling at the camera and wearing a black tie, white collared shirt and a jacket with a white square pattern.
Steven Truong

MD/PhD in biosciences at Stanford University

Child of Vietnamese refugees; MIT graduate; co-leads Vietnam's largest genome-wide association study; writer; hopes to solve and treat metabolic disorders such as diabetes as a physician-scientist. 

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Daniela Veloza

MBA at Harvard University

Daughter of a Colombian immigrant; Harvard graduate; 18-time Colombian swimming national medalist; hopes to lead a consumer brand that is focused on serving the US Latinx community. 

  • A headshot of Shomik Verma who is smiling and staring at the camera. He is wearing a suit jacket, a white collared shirt and a blue tie.

Shomik Verma

PhD in mechanical engineering at MIT

Child of immigrants from India; Duke graduate; working on improving reliability of renewable energy and on a power plant based on thermophotovoltaic power conversion. 

  • A headshot of Cinthia Zavala Ramos who is looking at the camera and wearing glasses, a white shirt, and a brown blazer.

Cinthia Zavala Ramos

JD at New York University

DACA recipient from Honduras; Yale graduate; aims to use her education and platform to place undocumented perspectives at the center of the immigration conversation. 

© 2023

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