Penn fourth-year and graduate student named 2026 Knight-Hennessy Scholars
The scholarship provides financial support for as long as three years to pursue a graduate degree and global leadership training at Stanford University.
2 min. read
Fourth-year Naseebullah Andar and graduate student Brianna Leung are 2026 Knight-Hennessy Scholars.
Penn’s 2026 Knight-Hennessy Scholars are fourth-year Naseebullah Andar, from Kabul, Afghanistan, and graduate student Brianna Leung, from Little Neck, New York. They are among this year’s 87 scholars from 31 countries, chosen “to be visionary, courageous, and collaborative leaders capable of taking on the world’s most difficult challenges.”
Leung is a graduate student in bioengineering with a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering from the School of Engineering and Applied Science, minoring in neuroscience and healthcare management and engineering entrepreneurship. She built Empathera, a startup centered on pressure ulcer prevention, earning international and institutional awards for device design and business planning. She has also led research and development projects at small business and major corporations, such as Stryker. In Philadelphia, she revived Penn ADAPT, a student group that designs assistive technology for community partners. Through ADAPT, she has also launched Enginuity, a platform that streamlines request and solution-sharing between student engineers and people with disabilities. Her research with Lauren H. Hammer on adaptive deep brain stimulation algorithms has been awarded by Penn Bioengineering and recognized at several conferences. She leads fundraising work for the animal welfare nonprofit Auxan by designing and selling artwork from a vending machine and is a professional lion dancer with Penn Lions. She will pursue a Ph.D. in bioengineering at Stanford’s School of Engineering and School of Medicine and ultimately aims to advance technologies and strategies for healthcare access.
When the Schuylkill swallowed the city: Lessons from Hurricane Ida’s historic flood
New Penn research shows that Hurricane Ida wasn’t a once-in-a-century anomaly but a preview of how climate change, urbanization, and aging infrastructure are rewriting flood risk.
The Fed explained: What it does and why it matters
Former Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and financial historian Peter Conti-Brown, both Wharton professors, unpack the central bank’s origins, its unusual structure, and the quiet ways it shapes the economy
How population changes are impacting primary education worldwide
Research from Penn sociologist Emily Hannum and colleagues reveals regional trends in whether school-age populations are increasing, plateauing, or decreasing—and shows how different countries are responding.
A bioengineered bean gum from the lab of Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell is found to reduce the levels of three microbes associated with head and neck squamous cell cancer to almost zero, without affecting the beneficial bacteria normally found in the mouth.
Fighting oral cancer with bioengineered chewing gum
Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell shows that antiviral and antibacterial chewing gums reduce the levels of three microbes linked to worse outcomes in oral cancers, paving the way for more effective and affordable therapies.
