UMBC’s 2026 – 2027 recipients of the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program are joining the ranks of UMBC’s distinguished Fulbright alumni, who have made UMBC a three-time Fulbright Top Producing Institution, a recognition from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. 

More than 2,000 Fulbright U.S. Students—recent college graduates, graduate students, and early career professionals—pursue graduate study, conduct research, or teach English in schools abroad each year, earning placements in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East, Latin America, and Europe. This year’s Fulbright Retrievers are launching the international phase of their research. From Baltimore to the Dominican Republic, India, and Mexico, these students are working with and for local communities to support local approaches to ongoing challenges.

The art of collaboration

During her senior year, Marelen Acevedo Soto ’26, visual arts, wowed Retrievers at UMBC’s 2025 Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day with an experiential painting that combined projection, animation, and live performance. Now, she is packing up these skills and taking them to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where she was born. Acevedo Soto earned her associate’s degree from Chavón School of Design. She is returning to work with the students to create a large-scale mural titled “Multidimensional Mural: Augmented Reality for Environmental Change” in Santo Domingo’s Zona Colonial (Colonial Zone), a UNESCO World Heritage site. Using QR codes, passersby will access animations and hear community voices describing how pollution affects daily life. The project will close with a Spanish and English multimedia performance combining projected animations, environmental data, and Dominican music.

Acevedo Soto (on the right) with artists from The Music and Me Foundation and at URCAD 2025. (Images courtesy of Acevedo)

“Many of my strongest ideas came from learning across different fields at UMBC,” says Acevedo Soto. “Music theory helped me think about rhythm and emotion. Storytelling taught me how to create meaningful experiences. Psychology helped me better understand how people think and engage with art. Environmental science deepened my understanding of water and the importance of its conservation, and data analysis gave me the tools to measure the impact of my project.”

Researchers’ responsibility

Vunnathi Ankem ’26, psychology, has had a passion for India for years, specifically how cultural exchange in India was shaped by hundreds of years of discourse, colonization, and history. While researching intimate partner violence (IPV) for her honors thesis, Vunnathi Ankem ’26, psychology, became interested in how South Asian students developed their understandings of IPV. Unexpectedly, most of the students she interviewed were from Telugu-speaking regions, such as Hyderabad in southern India. Intrigued, Ankem is now headed to the Psychology Center at the University of Hyderabad to continue her research. “Psychology, as we know it in the Western world, is only one approach to understanding the mind and the body,” says Ankem. “As psychology students, it is our responsibility to explore worlds and lenses beyond the Eurocentric ones.”

(l-r) Ankem at the 2026 Asian Cultural Celebration and Awards ceremony. Ankem with mentor Christopher Murphy, professor of psychology. (Images courtesy of Ankem)

She will study how systems, class, community, and culture shape experiences of IPV in India and inform more culturally responsive prevention strategies. Ankem will then develop community-based and community-led IPV prevention workshops. “The Fulbright program is giving me the opportunity I have always dreamed about,” says Ankem. “I can’t wait to learn from professionals and clinicians, alongside ancient culture practitioners and experts in India. It will be the experience of a lifetime!”

Humanistic climate futures

After studying climate change and migration on a study abroad trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, Bryan Castro-Velez ’26, geography and environmental studies, knew he was on the right research path—studying humanistic approaches to equitable agroecological systems and land in Indigenous Latin American communities. He says learning directly from indigenous leaders about their farming practices and response to climate change inspired him to apply for the Fulbright García-Robles award for graduate and doctoral research in Mexico. Castro-Velez’s graduate work will focus on agroecology, natural resource management, and rural development in Chiapas, Mexico.

“I look forward to continuing down this path, encouraging others to do the same, and furthering my education outside the walls of academia,” says Castro-Velez. “My experiences during and outside of UMBC have proven to me that community-based learning systems are fundamental to just climate solutions and humanistic futures.”

As the U.S. Fulbright Program celebrates its 80th anniversary this year, UMBC’s Fulbright program is celebrating by expanding support through the Office of Prestigious Scholarships (OPS) under the leadership of April Householder ’95, director of OPS: “I am looking forward to building on UMBC’s strong legacy as a top producer of Fulbright students,” says Householder, “and expanding student support throughout the processes of exploring, applying, and transitioning abroad.” 

Learn more about UMBC’s international opportunities.

Registration is open for hackUMBC 2026, UMBC's official student-run hackathon. The 24-hour event brings together graduate, undergraduate, and high school students of all backgrounds and skill levels to learn new technologies, collaborate on creative projects, and build software and hardware solutions in a supportive, hands-on environment. Register here.

HACKUMBC 2026 IS NOW OPEN FOR REGISTRATION!

Hear ye, hear ye! hackUMBC returns for our annual 24-hour hackathon and this year, we're venturing into a realm of medieval fantasy.

📅 September 26-27th
📍 ITE and Engineering Buildings

Whether you're a seasoned code-wizard or a first-time squire, there's a quest for everyone: build a website, dabble in design, craft a game, or bring your wildest idea to life.

No experience is required, as we'll have beginner workshops and mentors to help you get started. We'll be providing free food, epic prizes, and amazing swag for all who attend.

🔗 Register here: https://hackumbc.tech/sign-up

This summer, four UMBC students are getting hands-on experience contributing to efforts to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River, which collapsed in March 2024 after a cargo ship collided with one of its supports. This is the second year in a row that the Maryland Transportation Authority has partnered with the Maryland Higher Education Commission to run the program.

Last year, three out of nine students in the program hailed from UMBC. This year, four out of the 10 interns are Retrievers. Mechanical engineering students Bilal Faizullah and Katelyn Prasad and geography and environmental systems students James Keller and Megan (Em) Schumacher ’26 will get the opportunity to learn about topics such as project management, environmental analysis, construction oversight, and community outreach. They will also get the chance to be a part of an iconic infrastructure project for Maryland, an experience that last year’s student interns found particularly meaningful. 

“The Key Bridge Internship Program represents the very best of career-connected learning by giving students the opportunity to contribute to a project that will have a lasting impact on Maryland,” says Christine Routzahn, director of UMBC’s Career Center. “We’re incredibly proud that four UMBC students were selected for this prestigious program. Their selection reflects not only their talent and dedication, but also the strength of the partnerships that make opportunities like this possible. We are grateful to the Maryland Transportation Authority, Maryland Higher Education Commission, and its partners for investing in our students and in the state’s future workforce.”

Get connected and build your network to succeed!

The AOK Library & Gallery and the Department of Information Technology (DoIT) invite new faculty to a lunchtime session highlighting resources and services designed to support your research and teaching. Topics will include:

• Using ORCID to streamline your Faculty Success annual report
• Support for Open Access at UMBC
• Storage Options for Research Data
• Access campus research computing & data services (cluster, storage, cloud, hosting)
• Generative AI Support
• Library Special Collections
• Library Reference
• The New Media Studio
• Learning Analytics at UMBC

REGISTER HERE: Lunch and Learn for New Faculty · Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery · myUMBC

SEE ATTACHED FLYER FOR DETAILS 

This is a hybrid event: attend in person at the Library Gallery (with lunch provided) or participate online. The session builds on information covered during new faculty orientation. 

Contact for questions or help: Michelle Flinchbaugh, flinchba@umbc.edu

Reminder that OSP's Coffee Chats continue this Wednesday July 29th, with "What is the Uniform Guidance". Sign up can be found HERE.

Thank you!

OSP Training Team 

4-Bedroom Townhouse for Rent – Convenient Location!
* 4 Bedrooms
* 2.5 Bathrooms
* New Carpet & Fresh Paint
* Master Bedroom with Attached Half Bath
* Walk-out Basement
* 2-Car Parking Space
* 2-Minute Drive to UMBC/CCBC
* 15-Minute Drive to Downtown
* 12-Minute Drive to ISB/Fatima Mosque
* Walking Distance to Bank & Grocery Stores
* 3-Minute Drive to UMBC/CCBC Shuttle Stop
* No Smoking or Pets
* Ideal for students or responsible tenants.

Can be done per room basis also!

For more information or to schedule a viewing, please call or text:443-825-8193 
Scan the QR Code for photos!

HIV continues to pose a major global health challenge, with about 1.3 million new infections reported annually worldwide in recent years. One of the most important HIV prevention strategies is pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. Healthy individuals at risk of HIV take a daily pill containing two antiretroviral drugs—tenofovir (TFV) and emtricitabine (FTC)—to block the virus before it can take hold.

These drugs only become protective after they are modified inside cells, specifically by adding a phosphate group in a step called “phosphorylation.” This activation turns them into their working forms. However, people’s responses to the drugs vary widely, sometimes leading to reduced protection.

Herana Kamal Seneviratne, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, has received a two-year grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to explore how two key HIV prevention drugs work inside the body—specifically in colon tissue, where HIV transmission risk is especially high. The project seeks to explain why these drugs protect some people better than others and could help make prevention tools more reliable.

“One of the reasons for PrEP failure is the huge variability observed among individuals,” Seneviratne explains. This variability is concerning, because someone might partake in riskier behavior based on a belief that they are safer than they actually are.

Seneviratne’s work focuses on the colon, because unprotected anal sex carries an 18-fold higher risk of HIV transmission than vaginal sex. Oral PrEP spreads through the bloodstream, but the amount of active drug that reaches colon tissue is not well studied, and could be one of the reasons for variable drug responses. Understanding what happens in these tissues is therefore crucial for improving PrEP, Seneviratne says, particularly for men who have sex with men.

Mapping cellular machinery

Previous work, including from Seneviratne’s group, has shown that certain enzymes are involved in activating and deactivating PrEP drugs in the blood by adding and removing phosphate groups. Certain kinases add a phosphate group, and certain nucleotidases remove it. However, the activity of these enzymes in colon tissue is unknown. 

“What matters is the drug metabolite concentrations in specific sites like in colon. That’s the point that we’re trying to make,” Seneviratne says.

To address that knowledge gap, Seneviratne’s team will grow human colon cells in the lab and use genetic tools to modify the expression of these kinases and nucleotidases one at a time. Then they will measure how those changes affect the drugs’ phosphorylation status. The project will take an innovative approach using mass spectrometry imaging, a technique that lets researchers see where molecules are located and active inside tissues.

“Our group is trying to contribute to overall improved HIV prevention,” Seneviratnes says. To that end, “understanding the metabolism of these two drugs in colon tissue is important.”

In conjunction with the lab’s work with human cells, Seneviratne’s team will examine mouse colon tissue to map these enzymes’ presence and activity across different cell types and tissue regions. The project will combine traditional techniques—specifically enzyme histochemistry and mass spectrometry—in novel ways. The dual approach will allow the team to observe enzymatic activity directly in its natural tissue environment rather than in a test tube, Seneviratne explains.

The NIAID grant type supporting the work, an R21, supports innovative high-risk, high-reward ideas that push scientific boundaries. Work is already underway on this approximately $440,000, two-year award. Graduate students Korin Murray and Nimalee Jayasekera and research fellow Christian Oh will take leading roles. Jayasekera will focus on the cell and molecular biology aspects, Murray will work on advanced imaging and tissue analysis, and Oh will support both students. There will be opportunities for undergraduates as well. Overall, the project expands the group’s focus on the negative side effects of drugs that treat HIV (including a study led by chemistry Ph.D. student Nav Raj Phulara on the brain) into the effectiveness of HIV prevention drugs.

From the bench to better PrEP

By revealing how these enzymes control drug activation and deactivation in specific parts of the colon, the project aims to provide knowledge that could lead to better dosing strategies, improved formulations, or other ways to make PrEP more effective. “The data that we generate from this work, we can leverage to optimize the therapeutic efficacy of the HIV PrEP drugs,” Seneviratne said. “These two drugs set the foundation for HIV prevention.”

Seneviratne’s interest in this area grew from his postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University, where he worked closely with clinicians to identify pressing real-world problems, leading him to ask, “How can I use my bioanalytical chemistry expertise to address those questions?” His chemistry expertise, combined with early publications on these enzymes, provided the foundation for the proposal.

This kind of fundamental research strengthens public health tools like PrEP, helping more people stay protected against HIV. The findings could eventually support more personalized or reliable prevention approaches across diverse populations.

UMBC staff, faculty, and alumni were among the planners of and participants at the B’More with Imagination Collaboratory’s recent meeting, held at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). The Collaboratory is a group of representatives from UMBC, MICA, and Towson University that are connected with Imagining America (IA), envisioning how to support community thriving.

IA recently published “B-More with Imagination,” a website blog post about the Gathering was coauthored by members of the Collaboratory, including UMBC’s Dr. David Hoffman, Ph.D. ‘13, director of the Center for Democracy and Civic Life; and Romy Hübler '09, M.A. '11, Ph.D. '15, director of civic engagement and social responsibility at Towson University. Dr. Mike Casiano, associate professor of American studies at UMBC, was also a coauthor.

The post reflects on the Collaboratory’s work and outcomes since IA’s 15th National Gathering: “Baltimore was the site of Imagining America’s 15th National Gathering, which centered on the theme ‘America Will Be! The Art and Power of ‘Weaving Our We.’ A decade later, three of the institutions that hosted the Gathering – Towson University, UMBC, and MICA – responded to IA’s call to form a new Collaboratory.

“When the six of us first met to discuss the Collaboratory, we wondered: Ten years after the Gathering, where are we now? Have we, as institutions educating students, created and fostered the pathways for scholars and artists to work together to nurture healthy, vibrant, and joyful communities?”

The coauthors added: “The B’More with Imagination Collaboratory will continue to work together as a cohort this year to implement the ideas that arose during the workshop. Collaboratory leaders are also exploring ways to continue their cross-institutional partnership beyond the 2026-27 academic year.”

UMBC participants at the Gathering also included Dr. Ciara Christian, Ph.D. ‘22, co-director of the Center for Social Justice Dialogue; Priya Bhayana, Global Asias Project Coordinator; Tess McRae ‘22, assistant director for connective learning, Center for Democracy and Civic Life; Brian Kaufman, associate professor of music; Dr. Amy Tondreau, associate professor of education; and students Duncan Winger and Bryan Castro-Velez.

Watch your email, myUMBC and Blackboard for notifications regarding online Student Course Evaluations beginning July 27th.  

The survey window for Session Two (4 week) Summer 2026 is July 27th through July 31st 11:59pm.  

The secure online system grants students 24/7 access during the evaluation period. Surveys must be completed before the July 31st deadline.  

Survey results available to instructors after Summer 2026 grades are posted. 

See the IRADS website and Frequently Asked Questions for more information.