The Sturge-Weber Foundation (SWF), a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, has named Colette Bichsel, PhD of Boston Children’s Hospital the recipient of the 2nd Lisa’s Sturge-Weber Research Fellowship Award. Research is defined as “patient-oriented research” conducted with human subjects, or “translational research” specifically designed to develop treatments or further various areas of scientific discoveries within Sturge-Weber Syndrome (SWS). The funds for the Lisa’s Research Fellowship Award are from a family that wishes to remain anonymous to focus the attention on “Lisa’s Sturge-Weber Foundation Research Fellowship Award.”
Dr. Bichsel is a postdoctoral researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Her fascination for how tissues self-organize led her to the field of vascular research. Before joining Vascular Biology Program in 2016, she completed her PhD in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Bern, Switzerland. She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree (summa cum laude) in Bioengineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. She uses this technical background to develop tools that are suitable to study how blood vessels assemble and function.
”The Sturge-Weber Foundation is honoured to present Dr. Bishcel with the 2nd Lisa’s Sturge-Weber Research Fellowship Award and look forward to the positive impact that she will make in the lives of the patients and families with SWS,” stated Karen L. Ball, Founder and CEO.
The Sturge-Weber Foundation exists to improve the quality of life for patients and families through research, awareness, advocacy and community.