Yogesh Goyal, PhD, assistant professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, has been named a 2025-2028 Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation Grant Fellow, which recognizes early-stage biomedical investigators engaged in basic and translational research that has the potential to make fundamental advances in biomedical science.
“Being named a Mallinckrodt Foundation Fellow is an incredible honor, particularly given the distinguished caliber of past recipients and the 72-year legacy of this foundation supporting groundbreaking biomedical research since 1953. This recognition means more than just funding — it represents validation of our research vision and provides access to both the flexible resources and collaborative network of fellows that are essential for pursuing transformative science,” said Goyal, who is also a courtesy faculty of Chemical and Biological Engineering and of Biomedical Engineering at McCormick School of Engineering, a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and an investigator at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago.
Goyal’s research combines theory, computation, and single-cell resolved experiments to track and control cellular plasticity and fate choices in developing tissues and disease.
“Our group is truly interdisciplinary, comprising engineers, biologists, clinicians, physicists, and other specialists. This award will enable us to maintain this rich collaborative environment and pursue groundbreaking problems in single-cell synthetic and systems biology. The flexible nature of this funding is particularly valuable because it allows us to follow promising leads wherever they may take us,” Goyal said.
The award provides early-stage biomedical investigators annual funding for up to three years to move their research forward to the point where R01 or other independent funding can be obtained.
Goyal was selected to be nominated through a highly competitive internal process in which 14 proposals were received from across Northwestern. Goyal joins a group of more than 150 past fellows from the U.S. and Canada.
“I have a long list of people to thank, but first and foremost, my research group. We have an exceptionally talented team, and our science is only as good as the work my trainees accomplish in the lab; I am incredibly proud of their dedication and contributions. I am also deeply grateful to my departmental chair, Luisa Iruela-Arispe, and to the two center directors of the Center for Synthetic Biology, Julius Lucks and Danielle Tullman-Ercek. Additionally, I want to thank the dean’s office at the Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern’s Office of Foundation Relations. All of these leaders have worked to ensure I have an exceptional intellectual environment to pursue our science while also fostering an enriching personal experience,” Goyal said.
