Washington State University bioengineering senior Katy Ayers has received a Fulbright U.S. Student award to further her fungus studies at the University of Exeter in southwest England.
Her Fulbright scholarship will support her Master of Science program in advanced biological sciences and research into potential antifungal drug targets for Cryptococcus neoformans. It causes fungal meningitis that infects about 150,000 people each year.
“It’s hard to describe the feeling that this type of life-changing opportunity—the Fulbright—evokes,” Ayers said of her scholarship that brings with it a year in the United Kingdom starting in September.
Winning a Fulbright is the realization of a lifelong dream, she said, as is studying at the University of Exeter, home to the Centre for Medicinal Mycology and “working shoulder-to-shoulder with experts in medicinal mycology.” The experience aligns with her goals to research pathogenic fungi.
Ayers said, “More than anything, I am grateful for all those who have helped me along the way to the Fulbright.”
She credits…
