Three promising researchers pursuing doctoral degrees at West Virginia University are receiving funding from the Ruby Scholars Graduate Fellows Program to aid in their future academic endeavors.

This year’s fellows are Annabelle Smith, Suchindram Dasgupta and Sloane Sirota. Each student will receive a $34,000 stipend, a $2,000 travel grant and a tuition waiver to allow them to continue their research at WVU.

Recipients must be pursuing a graduate degree in one of the following fields: energy and environmental sciences, biological, biotechnical and biomedical sciences or biometrics, nanotechnology and material science, security, sensing, forensic sciences and related identification technologies.

Established in 2011 by the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust, the fellowship provides financial support that allows incoming doctoral level scholars to dedicate themselves fully to expanding their studies and using their research to benefit the people of WVU, the nation and the world.

Since the Ruby Fellows program’s inception, a total of 53 students have received financial support to continue their research at the University.

“With the generous support of the Ruby Fellows program, WVU is able to bring exceptional young researchers to our campus each year,” Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Maryanne Reed said. “This year’s Fellows have already made great strides in their research and are poised to be significant changemakers in their fields of study.”

Annabelle Smith

Hagerstown, Maryland, native Annabelle Smith began her undergraduate education at WVU in the music and health program. Smith also had a strong interest in science.

“Microbiology was something I had never done before, so I was like, ‘OK, let me try it out,’” Smith said. “It was kind of random and I just thought it would be fun, but now it is something I really love doing.”

During her freshman year, Smith joined the Research Apprenticeship Program and worked on a project studying functional stimulation of the deltoid muscle to relieve shoulder subluxation — a partial dislocation.

The experience left Smith with a desire to participate in more research. She changed her major to immunology and medical microbiology and continued her research.

“Immunology is something that we don’t talk about. It is so cool to actually study deep into your immune system and how bacteria and viruses are actually affecting you,” she said. “I really just want to do as much as I can and would like to have a meaningful project that I feel is going to push us forward scientifically.”

Smith will continue her studies and research on host pathogen interactions at WVU. Smith aspires to dive deeper into her passion of research and to become confident in her abilities as she pursues her doctorate in immunology and microbial pathogenesis.

Suchindram Dasgupta

Suchindram Dasgupta graduated from Rutgers University in New Jersey with a bachelor’s degree in astrophysics and mathematics. Originally from Fair Lawn, New Jersey, Dasgupta has always enjoyed learning about the universe.

“I used to read books about the solar system and the Milky Way as a kid,” Dasgupta said. “I kind of fostered that love over a long time.”

During his undergraduate education, Dasgupta participated in research on quantum mechanical behavior of hydrogenic ions in one spatial dimension, publishing a paper on the topic as the lead author. He also researched star formation in dwarf galaxies and the radio afterglow of a gamma-ray burst.

“The universe has so much more information that we have barely tapped into and that excites me as a researcher,” he said.

While at WVU, Dasgupta aspires to advance the field of gravitational wave astronomy as he pursues his doctorate in physics. He would like to contribute to efforts focused on improving the detection and localization of gravitational waves and testing gravitational physics.

Sloane Sirota

Sloane Sirota, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, could not decide what science course to take in high school. While she was more familiar with chemistry, she was drawn to the mystery that surrounded her prior knowledge of physics. Her infatuation with the subject only grew, and she pursued an undergraduate degree in physics at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

“Physics was the only class I felt really challenged in and I thought that was exciting,” Sirota said. “It kind of applied to everything and I felt like it tied everything else that I had learned together.”

During her education at McGill University, Sirota participated in internships and research involving strange particles, proton-proton collisions and fast radio bursts. She continues to look into these bursts as part of the CHIME Collaboration, assisting with the release of its second catalog of fast radio bursts, the biggest one to date.

“Things are always changing. There are new papers coming out every day, and there is always more to learn,” she said. “It is a field that is always evolving and no matter what you are doing in physics, you can see it in your everyday life.”

Sirota plans to continue her physics education and research at WVU. She aspires to work with Duncan Lorimer FRS, one of the WVU professors credited with the discovery of fast radio bursts.

The Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust established the Ruby Scholars Graduate Fellows program in memory of its namesake. Hazel Ruby McQuain was involved in philanthropic giving to support WVU for more than 20 years before she died at the age of 93 in 2002. One of her many gifts includes an $8 million gift toward the construction of J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, which is named after her late husband.

Her gifts and those from the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust were made through the WVU Foundation, the nonprofit organization that receives and administers private donations on behalf of the University.