The Knight-Hennessy Scholars program at Stanford supports a diverse community of graduate students, with the aim of preparing a new generation of global leaders to effect positive change in the world. Each cycle, 100 students with demonstrated leadership and civic commitment receive full funding for up to three years of graduate education at Stanford. This year, two recipients are Wolverines: Braden Crimmins and Karthik Ravi!
A 2019 U.S. Presidential Scholar, Braden graduated this year with a master’s degree in Computer Science and will attend Stanford Law School in the fall. During his time at U-M, Braden worked with the University’s Center for Computer Security and Society, where his research helped to make United States election technology safer and more reliable. He was also a member of the Engineering Global Leadership honors program and a fellow in U-M’s Tauber Institute. He formerly interned in D.C. with Representative Ted Deutch (D-FL).
Braden has said that he applied for the Knight-Hennessy program because it provides an opportunity to learn in an interdisciplinary community, and that he is looking forward to “developing technical and legal skills alongside others who plan to pursue public interest careers.” Braden is excited to collaborate with a community of peers who are doing exceptional work in a diverse array of fields.
While enrolled at Stanford Law School for his JD, Braden plans to remotely continue his research with U-M Professor J. Alex Halderman and earn his PhD in Computer Science. Ultimately, Braden hopes to pursue a career in policy, where he will work to ensure that technology’s benefits are broadly distributed and used to create a better future.
Braden would like to thank Dr. J. Alex Halderman, Dr. Bradley Sturt, Dr. Michael Specter, and Dr. Drew Springall for their support and mentorship during his research career to date. Braden would also like to thank all of his letter writers, professors, and faculty who have provided him guidance and support in his academic career in the past, including Professor Julian Davis Mortenson, Dr. Henry Dyson, Dr. Roya Ensafi, Dr. Mohamed Mostagir, and Ms. Lynn K. Halton, among others.
A 2021 Goldwater Scholar and 2022 Churchill Scholar, Karthik is currently finishing up his MPhil in Medical Sciences at the University of Cambridge. He majored in Biology, Health, and Society and worked on pediatric brain cancer, neurosurgery, and neuroscience research across four different research groups while at U-M. Karthik led the development of CNS-TAP, a formalized decision-making algorithm to assist clinicians with selecting the optimal targeted therapy for neuro-oncology patients. CNS-TAP is used by clinicians and consortiums around the country.
At Cambridge, Karthik worked under the tutelage of Dr. Nitzan Rosenfeld, a world-renowned leader in the liquid biopsy field on the development of ultra-sensitive methodologies to detect and sequence circulating tumor DNA fragments. Karthik aspires to contribute to a world where brain cancer can be detected from routine blood, spinal fluid, or urine tests.
He will be going to Stanford for medical school with the hope of becoming a physician-scientist in the field of neurosurgery or neuro-oncology. Karthik has said of the application process, “Applying has been a rewarding experience in and of itself. It provided me an opportunity to thoroughly introspect on my research experiences thus far and to practice compiling my educational and research experiences together in a cohesive manner. Furthermore, this process has allowed me to strengthen relationships with my mentors and has reaffirmed and validated my particular interests in neuro-oncology.”
His high school, undergraduate, and master’s degree work in the field of neuro-oncology, neurosurgery, and liquid biopsy has led to 12+ publications. Karthik was also a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship and Gates Cambridge Scholarship. He would like to thank Dr. Carl Koschmann, Dr. Allen Flynn, Dr. Neena Marupudi, Dr. Nitzan Rosenfeld, Dr. Inhan Lee, Dr. Arumugam Jayakumar for their support and mentorship as well as all of his other letter writers, professors, and faculty who have helped him on his journey thus far, including Dr. Bernard Marini and Dr. Andrea Franson, among many others.
