Akshay Patel took a giant leap of faith in 2014. Motivated by his interest in cell biology and inspired by what he read about the cutting-edge research underway at the University of Maryland, Patel journeyed thousands of miles from his home in India to UMD for college, hoping to lay the groundwork for his future career as a scientist.

Congratulations to Chemistry and Biochemistry’s Leah Dodson who received a 2023 Early Career Research Award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to further her alternative fuels research. The highly competitive five-year grant, awarded through the DOE’s Gas Phase Chemical Physics program, recognizes rising stars in science.