Dissertation Award for BGE Students Will Honor Longtime Professor Stefano Vicini

Georgetown University Biomedical Graduate Education (BGE) is introducing a dissertation award to recognize graduating Ph.D. candidates’ accomplishments, named for a recently retired professor who has devoted decades to fostering student achievement.

The inaugural Stefano Vicini Dissertation Award will be presented in May 2026 to a BGE student who has submitted their dissertation in the past year.

“We are very grateful to all the donors to the Stefano Vicini Dissertation Award that now gives us the opportunity to recognize the wonderful research of our BGE Ph.D. students,” said BGE Vice Dean Anna Riegel. “This award will acknowledge the scientific curiosity, insights and productivity of one of our Ph.D. students, and will also give us the opportunity to showcase our prestigious Ph.D. training programs and the opportunities they offer to curious minds wanting to make a big impact in biomedical science.”

The award will “celebrate the research excellence of our graduate trainees, and simultaneously recognize the vital role mentorship plays in their success,” said Patrick Forcelli, Fleisch-Cohen Professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology, who is leading the effort.

Forcelli was inspired to create the award when longtime professor Stefano Vicini retired to an emeritus role in the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology in summer 2025. Vicini has been a Georgetown faculty member for 40 years, and in that time he has served as a founding member of the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, directed the former Physiology & Biophysics program, and mentored more than 50 Ph.D. students and postdoctoral associates, including Forcelli (G’11).

“I know firsthand what an enormous impact he has made on Georgetown. I see it in my colleagues, and in fellow lab alumni, who all absolutely adore Stefano,” Forcelli said. “He’s a champion for his students, while holding them to the highest scientific standards. This is everything that we would want to capture in a dissertation award. Outstanding scholarship, passion, drive, creativity – Stefano really embodies all of it.”

Alumni of Vicini’s lab donated initial funds for a cash prize for dissertation winners. Forcelli hopes to raise more money to create an endowment to support the award.

Vicini said the plan was a surprise to him, and he is “proud to be the inspiration for students that have realized, as I did, the beauty of science and the fulfillment of teaching.”

Vicini has been enjoying spending more time with family since his retirement. He’s also staying active as an emeritus professor, keeping time in his schedule for conducting research and mentoring students.

Enduring Impact

Stefano Vicini listens to a student poster presenter in May 2025 — Vicini listens as a student presents his research poster.

Vicini’s skill as a researcher and educator has earned him many accolades, from Georgetown’s President’s Award for Distinguished Scholar-Teachers and MAGIS Society of Master Teachers to the Academy of Sciences of Turin’s Herlitzka Prize for Physiology. And beyond the awards, his alumni reflect the impact of his mentorship as they achieve success in their respective careers, through decades and around the world.

Vicini “was the biggest influence in my career,” said Chuck Livsey (G’97, M’97), who graduated with an M.D. and Ph.D. in Pharmacology and worked as a research scientist at Yale before moving into clinical practice as an epileptologist. Livsey’s son, Stefan, is named after Vicini.

“Even though I didn’t stay in research, I use everything I learned from Stefano pretty much every day in dealing with patients,” Livsey said. “I learned a lot about not only basic science, but working with people and learning to deal with the roles in both research and clinical medicine.”

Alfredo Gonzalez-Sulser (G’12), an alumnus of the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, works on the research side of epilepsy at the University of Edinburgh. He said: “Stefano showed me how to be a scientist in every sense of the word, teaching me how to develop a project from scratch, perform experiments, analyse data, program code, write scientifically, give presentations, and network with others in the field. … Stefano is also a gentleman with incredible class and a fabulous international background. He inspired me in much more than science, he has become a clear role model for the type of person I want to be.”

Rupa Lalchandani Tuan (G’13) and Stefano Vicini.

Rupa Lalchandani Tuan (G’13) recounted “exceptional training” and “incredible mentorship” from Vicini during her time as a Pharmacology & Physiology doctoral student. She is now an associate professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology department at the University of California, San Francisco, where she has distinguished herself as a teacher.

“[Vicini] gave me the space to explore my interests both in the lab and in education, and this structured independence gave me the confidence to pursue my passions,” she said. “His overarching philosophy of kindness and generosity is the basis of how I now model my mentoring and teaching of my own students.”

If you would like to help fund the Stefano Vicini Dissertation Award Endowment, please visit our giving page.

Dissertation Award for BGE Students Will Honor Longtime Professor Stefano Vicini

Enduring Impact

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