In honor of Sharon Davie, the founding director of the Women’s Center, our Davie Fellowship supports the professional development of a PhD student at UVA on a non-traditional path. Zehra Demir, this year's Davie Fellowship recipient, is a Biomedical Engineering PhD candidate conducting research in Dr. Natasha Sheybani's lab developing combinatorial strategies that utilize focused ultrasound (FUS), an non-invasive and safe technology, to enhance immunotherapies for the treatment of breast cancer and breast cancer brain metastasis. With the support of the fellowship funding, she plans to attend conferences to present her research and cultivate valuable professional connections with prominent scientists and clinicians in the field of therapeutic ultrasound in cancer therapy.

Since coming to UVA to pursue her PhD in 2021, Zehra has worked on behalf of first-generation students, serving in a leadership role with the First-Gen Graduate Student Coalition (FGSC) and building connections between first-generation faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates. She is also involved in a variety of efforts that actively engage local kids in science and technology, such as C4K, Bio-Med Tech Girls, and SWE's High School Visitation Fair. She was awarded the University's John T. Casteen III Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award in 2023.