UB senior receives Gates Cambridge Scholarship

BUFFALO, N.Y. – University at Buffalo biomedical engineering senior Sydney Swedick has added another prestigious fellowship to her extensive scholarly honors: the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, which awards her a full scholarship to pursue a postgraduate degree at the University of Cambridge.

Swedick, 21, a native of Johnstown, New York, is the first UB student to win the award since 2016, according to Megan Stewart, director of UB’s Office of Fellowships and Scholarships.

“Sydney amazes me at everything she does, and winning the Gates Cambridge is a testament to her exceptional academic and leadership potential, and demonstrated commitment to improving the lives of others,” says Stewart.

“Winning this scholarship is an impressive feat, and it reflects the University at Buffalo’s commitment to academic excellence. It underscores its reputation as a diverse, inclusive scholarly community dedicated to bringing the benefits of our research to local and global communities.”

About 1% of Gates Cambridge applicants receive the award, which comes with a “maintenance fee” stipend throughout her three-year PhD program, in addition to the full scholarship. 

“Conducting this work and having this opportunity,” Swedick says, “is part of the next step toward me becoming a physician-scientist and leading in finding new therapies and treatments for those with peripheral nerve and spinal cord injuries, while starting my own biotech company one day.”

Swedick previously won a Goldwater scholarship, considered the most prestigious and competitive research scholarship offered for undergraduate STEM students.

Additional honors include selection to the All-USA Academic Team while attending SUNY Schenectady, one of only 20 community college students in the country to receive this award, and the 2022 New Century Transfer Scholar Award — she was the top applicant in New York State — given to community college students demonstrating intellect and leadership. She was also one of 15 students selected for the Johns Hopkins University Amgen Scholar U.S. Program and one of only six in the nation to conduct research through the HEART/SHURP MD/PhD summer internship program at Harvard Medical School.

Hometown ties

She says her life would look very different if it weren’t for her family — she has four siblings she is very close to — and lifelong friends.

“The odds were against me,” she says. “It’s really, I think, a creation of all my siblings and my parents, and the work of us together because I really could not have done it without them.”

Swedick’s research interest in biomedical engineering and neurology, along with her hopes of entering a prominent medical school, trace back to her childhood, when she battled through serious medical conditions. When Swedick was just 12, she had two titanium rods and 11 screws placed in her spine during a 10-hour spinal fusion surgery. At that point, she knew she wanted to eventually go into biomedical research, which evolved into her present ambition to blend neurology and engineering as a physician-scientist.

Medical challenges followed her through high school and continued when she attended SUNY Schenectady. Swedick was diagnosed a couple years ago with severe forms of the autoimmune diseases Thyroid Eye Disease and Graves’ disease, immune system disorders that result in the overproduction of thyroid hormones, affecting many body systems. Her condition went undiagnosed for years because her symptoms were attributed to allergies.

Plans for Cambridge

Swedick plans to continue to advocate for educational equity and bridging the disparities of the system — activism that began during her time at SUNY Schenectady.

While at the community college, she was an ambassador for the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP), a state Department of Education program that aims to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups who are pursuing professional licensure and careers in mathematics, science, technology and health-related fields.

She plans to continue breaking down those same barriers while at Cambridge, where she hopes to volunteer at the Cambridge Science Centre, while joining sustainability organizations such as Cambridge Zero.