Boston University

Katherine Turk, MD, PhD  2025 Toffler Scholar | Assistant Professor of Neurology, Boston University FIND ME ON Biography Katherine Turk traces her scientific identity to a single afternoon in college. As an undergraduate at the University of Chicago, she enrolled in a required science course taught by a practicing neurologist. One day, the professor brought…

R. Stefan Isaac, PhD  2025 Toffler Scholar | Assistant Professor, Boston University School of Medicine FIND ME ON Biography R. Stefan Isaac did not initially imagine a career in scientific research. Raised in East Tennessee, he came from a family without formal ties to academic science. His earliest exposure came primarily through his mother, a…

Jie Yang, PhD  2024 Toffler Scholar | Research Assistant Professor, Boston University School of Medicine FIND ME ON Biography Jie Yang grew up in a rural region of eastern China, near Confucius’s birthplace, where education was highly valued. Despite modest circumstances and a lack of academic background, his perseverance and cultural values inspire admiration and…

Jean-Pierre Roussarie, PHD Jean-Pierre Roussarie earned the Toffler Scholar Award in 2023 at Boston University FIND ME ON Biography When Jean-Pierre Roussarie was born, his father was studying particle physics at Stanford University, so Dr. Roussarie spent his first two years of life in Northern California before his family moved back to France, just outside…

Julia TCW, PHD  Julia TCW earned the Toffler Scholar Award in 2025 and 2022 at Boston University FIND ME ON Biography Julia TCW was born in South Korea but spent her early childhood in Rockville, Maryland. Dr. TCW’s early interest in science and biology was inspired by her grandfather, who helped raise her. A microbiologist…

Vijaya Kolachalama  Vijaya Kolachalama earned the 2022 and 2020 Toffler Scholar Award at Boston University. FIND ME ON Biography Vijaya Kolachalama was born in Hyderabad, a city in South India, to a close-knit family. He feels that growing up he had three parents: his mother, his father, and his grandmother, and he credits his grandmother…