Pallavi Surana and Varun Ravi Kankanallu, doctoral students at Stony Brook University, have been awarded the 20th annual Mow Shiah Lin Scholarship. This scholarship, valued at $2,000, is funded by the Asian Pacific American Association (APAA) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). It honors the late scientist Mow Shiah Lin.
“This recognition highlights not only our academic pursuits but also our shared values and passions in remembrance of Dr. Mow Shiah Lin and his contribution to science,” said Surana.
Kankanallu conducts research in the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering. His work involves experiments at BNL’s National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), focusing on advanced energy science and technology. He aims to understand reaction mechanisms of aqueous Zn-ion batteries for renewable energy storage solutions.
Surana's research is in Biomedical Informatics, where she develops methods to study tissue-specific transcript variants related to health and cancer. She is working on DNABERT-based genomic language models to understand gene promoters' regulatory logic. Her work has earned her a spot in the Scholars in BioMedical Sciences Training Program 2024-25 (T32GM148331). Additionally, she contributes to a project under NIH Grant R01LM013722 led by Ramana V. Davuluri, PhD.
Outside their academic pursuits, Kankanallu and Surana are married and enjoy activities like tennis and kayaking. They are also involved in community outreach initiatives that promote science among young people.
“Together, our research reflects a shared commitment to tackling global challenges in energy and health,” Surana stated. “This award motivates us to continue pushing the boundaries of science while staying connected to the broader community.”
Dr. Lin began his career at Brookhaven Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 1975 and later co-led a team focused on environmental remediation using bacteria to convert toxic oil wastes into useful products. In 2001, he received an R&D 100 Award for developing silica recovery technology from geothermal brine.
The APAA works towards unity and awareness through various programs including educational, cultural events, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month celebrations, and discussions on issues affecting the Asian Pacific American community at BNL.