Ekua Beneman awarded Community Service Fellowship
Given by the MIT School of Science, this fellowship recognizes extraordinary service contributions of graduate students in support of their community.
Chemistry PhD candidate Ekua Beneman has been named the recipient of the MIT School of Science’s Community Service Fellowship.
Awarded by the Office of the Dean in the School of Science, this fellowship recognizes the extraordinary service contributions of graduate students in support of their community. Beneman, who joined the MIT Department of Chemistry to begin her graduate studies in 2023, credits her own mentors as the inspiration to pay it forward to those around her.
“My academic journey has been shaped by mentors and community members who supported me during moments of uncertainty, especially when I did not know which direction to take,” said Beneman. “Their presence made a lasting impact on me, and it motivates me to be that same source of support for others. When things become difficult, I stay committed because I want to be a kind and steady presence who can help ease even a small part of the burden others may be carrying.”
As a member of Novartis Professor Laura L. Kiessling‘s research group, Beneman investigates how lectin-glycan interactions govern immune recognition of microbes. Using synthetic glycopolymers and engineered particulate systems, she studies how β-glucan presentation influences the activation of the immune receptor Dectin-1. Beneman also examines how soluble lectins recognize glycans on commensal and pathogenic bacteria. Together, this work aims to define how glycan structure and presentation shape host-microbe interactions and inform the design of immunomodulatory materials.
