CCNY PhD student Anastasiia Vasylaki is a 2026 PhRMA Foundation Fellow.
Anastasiia Vasylaki, a fourth-year PhD student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at The City College of New York is one of ten recipients nationally of PhRMA Foundation Predoctoral Fellowships in the Drug Delivery category. She will receive $60,000 over two years from the program that provides stipend support to graduate students engaged in thesis research.
Overall, PhRMA has awarded more than $4.6 million in grants and fellows to 65 exceptional early-career researchers this year.
Vasylaki is conducting research in the Williams Immune Nanomedicine Lab, located in CCNY’s Grove School of Engineering, and led by biomedical engineer Ryan Williams.
Her work focuses on developing kidney-targeting nanoparticles for the delivery of gene therapies, with a particular emphasis on treating chronic kidney disease. “My ultimate career goal is to contribute to the development of a drug that would successfully reach the patients and make a positive impact on their outcomes,” she said.
Vasylaki holds a bachelor's degree in biotechnology from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv in Ukraine, and a master's in Nanomedicine for Drug Delivery from the University of Paris. Her professional background in the pharmaceutical industry includes a six-month co-op in materials and analytical sciences at Boehringer Ingelheim, one of the world's leading family owned pharmaceutical companies.
In addition, her scientific training spans institutions across Ukraine, Austria, France, Italy, and the United States, giving her a broad foundation in biologics, nanoparticle science, and drug delivery.
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Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Lightcast puts at $3.2 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers, and society. At City College, more than 16,500 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity, and scholarship. In 2023, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together,” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College's mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic, and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.
Jay Mwamba
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