Graduate Student Jennifer Knipe Receives $15,000 Scholarship

Graduate student Jennifer Knipe has been awarded a Philanthropic Education Organization (P.E.O.) Scholar Award, a $15,000 merit-based award for women from the United States and Canada pursuing doctoral degrees.

Recipients are considered to have the potential to make significant contributions to their field, and were chosen based on research descriptions, faculty recommendations, past awards and honors and scholarly activities. They are expected to use the awarded funds to continue their education and research.

“Jennifer is an outstanding student and individual and her field of study will make a difference to future generations,” said Jill Brown, P.E.O. representative. “There is a lot of competition for this award. There were 559 nominees and only 85 awards given. We are very proud of her.”

The award will support Knipe’s research to design and evaluate stimuli-responsive biomaterials to enable the delivery of genetic therapy locally to the intestine. These materials will improve the quality of life for patients who suffer from chronic gastrointestinal diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease or celiac disease.

“I am grateful to have been selected for a P.E.O. Scholar Award, which will be an immense help financially as I complete my thesis research,” Knipe said. “I am thrilled at the opportunity to be better acquainted with the women of the P.E.O. Austin Chapter R, my nominating chapter, and I am honored to benefit from the organization’s mission to promote opportunities for women seeking higher education.”

Knipe is conducting her Ph.D. research in the Laboratory of Biomaterials, Drug Delivery and Bionanotechnology, under the supervision of Professor Nicholas Peppas.  She is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and graduated from West Virginia University in May 2010 with a B.S. degree in chemical engineering as an honors scholar.

About the P.E.O.

P.E.O. is a philanthropic organization that celebrates the advancement of women and helps educate women through scholarships, grants, awards, loans, and more. Nearly 88,000 women have benefited from the organization’s grants, loans, awards, special projects and stewardship of Cottey College. To date, P.E.O. has awarded Educational Loan Fund dollars totaling almost $136 million, International Peace Scholarships of more than $28 million, Program for Continuing Education grants of almost $40.5 million, Scholar Awards of nearly $15 million and P.E.O. STAR Scholarships of more than $1.9 million. The organization has almost a quarter of a million members in chapters throughout the U.S. and Canada, with headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa.

 

Tags: advancement of women, celiac disease, chemical engineering, chronic gastrointestinal diseases, Cockrell School of Engineer, inflammatory bowel disease, Jennifer Knipe, Longhorn, McKetta Department of Engineering, P.E.O Scholar Award, Peppas, Philanthropic Education Organization, research, Texas, Texas Longhorns, University of Texas, UT engineering, women's education