In December 2024, Dalia Fleifel, PhD Candidate received the Dianne Harris Graduate Student Award for exemplary leadership.

The Diane Harris Leadership Award honors one of our Biochemistry & Biophysics students who has shown exemplary leadership in the department (broadly defined, including leadership in research, education, and/or public service) during the year. This award was created in 2008 in recognition of Diane Harris. Diane was the Student Service Manager in the Biochemistry and Biophysics Department for 30 + years, a position she held with great dedication and loyalty.
Her nominator said, “She has been a shining example of graduate research excellence. She has written one first-author review, contributed as co-author to two other publications from the Cook lab, and she has one co-first author paper in revision and her major first author paper in preparation. She has also collaborated with two other UNC groups on projects in progress, one of those in the final writing stages for submission.
Dalia is supported by an American Heart Association fellowship which she won through persistence and patience throughout the resubmission process, and she won a $10,000 core voucher in 2023 to support her project; she prepared and submitted this voucher application completely independently. Dalia has presented her work at 4 major conferences, including an invited talk at a 2023 Gordon Research Conference. She has presented locally at the BCBP retreat twice and in the UNC Cell Club at least twice.
She won the prize for best presentation in the 2022 student seminar series. Second, throughout her training, she has been a consistent leader. She co-founded the Environmental Task Force, served as our Senator representative to the Graduate and Professional Student Government, served on the BCBP DEI committee, served on the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Equity Council, contributed to scientific communication through the NC DNA Day Blog, and contributed significantly on the student committee that organized the 2024 Mary Ellen Jones seminar.
She has expertly mentored five undergraduates, two rotation students and a junior research technician. For these experiences, she voluntarily engaged in formal mentor training in 2022. She has also engaged countless times in recruiting for BBSP and the lab. Importantly, Dalia is unfailingly supportive and kind, and she routinely helps others both scientifically and personally. Her optimism and willingness to dedicate her time and talent to improving our community are unmatched.”