Ennis Receives Prestigious NIH Fellowship for Research of Biofilms

The National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) awarded Quantitative and Systems Biology graduate student Craig Ennis the Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Service Research Award.

The award provides multiyear support to predoctoral students in health-related fields.

“It’s exciting to be awarded this fellowship because it provides support that allows me to further develop my research, and also grow professionally,” Ennis said.

Ennis’s research topic is critical to human health — how antifungal resistance develops in pathogenic fungi. His doctoral research could significantly expand the understanding of antifungal resistance mechanisms and may lead to developing novel therapeutics against biofilm infections.

“Craig is an impressive graduate student who is super motivated and ambitious and has an uncanny ability to multitask,” Professor Clarissa Nobile said. “With the increased emergence of drug resistant fungal pathogens in recent years — take Candida auris as an example that has received a lot of press lately — Craig’s work is becoming recognized as being more and more relevant and impactful.”