High Achievers

UB junior Aisha Makama earned the Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship for her dedication to public service. Growing up in Nigeria, Makama experienced an educa-tional system beset by challenges. Now, the biochemistry and political science double major is set on making STEM education more accessible. The scholarship enables Makama to spend the summer in West Africa creating  better learning opportunities for local students.

The highly competitive Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology fellowship was awarded to Jobaer Ahmed Saju, an engineering PhD student whose research involves measuring nitrogen oxides—harmful air pollutants that can worsen asthma and other respiratory conditions. The fellowship will support Saju’s work to better understand the effects of air pollution on public health. 

One of only five recipients of the Association of American Medical Colleges’ 2025 ACE Award for Advocacy, Collaboration and Education, medical student David Cazares Dorantes is committed to serving vulnerable populations. He helps lead UB’s student-run street medicine initiative, works as a Spanish medical interpreter, and mentors high school and college students interested in medicine. Dorantes plans to pursue family medicine with a focus on preventive care.

Ryan Zhenqi Zhou, a geography PhD candidate, was one of only three students nationwide to receive the Cartography and Geographic Information Society doctoral scholarship. The award recognizes his work applying geospatial data science to address natural disaster and public health challenges. Zhou studied the 2022 Buffalo blizzard—which he also experienced as a resident—to identify disparities in how assistance was provided. He aims to support more equitable disaster response through his research.

Before joining her doctoral program in the Graduate School of Education, Iman Lathan was a Division I basketball player. Now, her research examines how athletics, gender and race intersect in higher education, with a focus on the NCAA. This work—deeply rooted in her own experiences as  a student-athlete—has earned her the 2025 National Academy of Education Spencer Dissertation Fellowship.