Computer Science Doctoral Student Named a Marshall Scholar
David Wei Jia, a doctoral student in computational and systems biology, is one of two Stanford students to receive a Marshall Scholarship, designed to help outstanding scholars gain an understanding and appreciation of contemporary Britain.
Jia, currently pursuing work in the genomics of breast cancer, transferred as an undergraduate to Stanford from MIT in 2011. In 2013, he earned a bachelor's degree, double majoring in mathematical and computational science and mathematics, and minoring in creative writing. He also earned a master's degree in computer science.
At MIT, Jia founded Upkast Inc., a virtual cloud file system for which he won the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Award for Web and Information Technology. He also conducted research in MIT's Brain and Cognitive Science Institute, where he created the first version of EyeWire, a collaborative platform for creating three-dimensional views of neural connections in the brain. He later founded Symp.ly Inc., a real-time collaborative technology.
Along with his scientific work, Jia writes poetry and is active in the sport of powerlifting. He hopes to pursue a master's degree of science in neuroscience at Oxford.
"Im deeply humbled by this opportunity," said Jia, who is from Gainesville, Fla. "I would like to thank all those who have helped and supported me, and shaped who I am today, without whom, I would never have had the opportunities afforded to me. I would like to thank my parents for their incredible sacrifices that gave me the opportunity of education."
The second Marshall Scholar is Mailyn Fidler, a senior majoring in science, technology and society.
Marshall Scholarships are named for former U.S. Secretary of State and Army General George Marshall, who formulated the Marshall Plan to aid economic development after World War II. The scholarships enable intellectually distinguished young Americans to study in Britain. The hope is that these students will contribute to the advancement of knowledge and act as ambassadors between the two nations. The scholarships typically cover two years of tuition, research, living and travel expenses at a British university of each student's choosing.
