Iva Stojkovska
Boise State University alumna Iva Stojkovska has been awarded a highly competitive graduate research fellowship from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The three-year research fellowship includes a $34,000 annual stipend and $12,000 education allotment.
Stojkovska graduated from Boise State as a Top Ten Scholar in 2015 with degrees in interdisciplinary studies and mathematics. She now is working on her doctorate in neuroscience at Northwestern University. Her research focuses on understanding the mechanisms underlying several pathological conditions that affect millions of people worldwide, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. She is also co-leading the graduate-student outreach initiative program at Northwestern University Brain Awareness Outreach (NUBAO), designed to educate and excite children of all ages about neuroscience in the Chicagoland area.
As an undergraduate student at Boise State, Stojkovska worked in the lab of Brad Morrison, with the aim to understand the molecular pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease. Their research resulted in two articles about Parkinson’s disease, both published in peer-reviewed professional journals. Prior to this research, she participated in the NSF program in mathematical biology at Duke University, the Research Experience for Undergraduates in Neuroscience program at the University of North Dakota, and the National Institutes of Health Idaho IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) program at Boise State, working under the guidance of Cheryl Jorcyk.
“Boise State has given me the opportunity to be taught by professors who gave me the freedom to explore new problem-solving methods, to learn and be challenged,” Stojkovska said. “I know that in every stage of my scientific career I will always be reminded that I am a Bronco for life.”
The NSF fellowship program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions.
BY: CIENNA MADRID PUBLISHED 10:07 PM / SEPTEMBER 24, 2017