Jennifer Hamad, Undergraduate Researcher in the Wender Lab, awarded the 2025 J. E. Wallace Sterling Award and 2025 Firestone Medal

Jennifer Hamad,  an undergraduate researcher in the  Wender Lab,  has been selected as one of twenty-five students to receive the 2025 J.E. Wallace Sterling Award for Scholastic Achievement.  

This prestigious award, named after J. E. Wallace Sterling, who served as Stanford University’s president from 1949 to 1968 and as chancellor until 1985, recognizes the top 25 graduating seniors in Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences.

As part of the prestigious Sterling award, an influential Stanford faculty member and most influential secondary school teacher are invited and recognized at an intimate luncheon ceremony held by the Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences. Alongside Jennifer, in attendance, were her research advisor, Paul Wender, and her Higher Level IB History of Americas teacher, Brian McCafferty. Mr. McCafferty was flown out from Houston, Texas, by the university to be there on this special occasion to honor Jennifer.

This is what Jennifer’s mentor and high school teacher had to say about her. 

“Jennifer is exceptional in many ways. As a scholar, Jennifer’s breadth and depth are unsurpassed. As a research scientist, her dedication, creativity, and ability to get things done are extraordinary. As a role model, Jennifer is inspirational. Notwithstanding the enormous challenge of carrying a full academic load,graduate-level research, and grant applications, Jennifer is always there with a smile. She loves what she does, and it shows in many ways. Her enthusiasm for solving unsolved medical problems for societal benefit is exceptional. As a leader, emerging clinical scientist, and educator, Jennifer shows sophistication and maturity beyond her years. Her commitment to addressing society challenges, including children’s causes, rights, and education, bodes well for our collective future. Wherever Jennifer goes, she makes great things happen.” - Paul A Wender

“Jennifer is one of those people that when you are in her presence, you know you have met someone truly special - the kind of person you only meet once in a lifetime. That is, if you are lucky. I say that because not only is she utterly brilliant, self-disciplined, highly driven, and insatiably curious, but she is also an incredible human being to her core. What has always struck me about Jennifer is who she is as a person. It’s her empathy, humility, warmth, and quiet selflessness. It’s her ability to care for others effortlessly, to speak out for and stand up for others, and to always try to help other people with gentleness and compassion. Through her kindness, she has quite literally saved lives. When she was just 16, she anonymously stepped up and did a good deed for a student in our high school in crisis that may have not only saved the student’s life but protected others. This is just one example of her quiet heroism. Today, she pursues research with the purpose of curing diseases and ending suffering for millions of people. I have never met a young person that radiates such pure goodness with only one mission- to lead a life of impact that allows her to love, care for, and do good for others. Jennifer touches people around her and has an impact on nearly everyone she meets without even realizing it - that’s why she’s magical. She has a heart of gold, and I saw that in her when she was just 16, and I see that in her now. I know that she will change the world not only through her intellectual gift but through her heart and that radiant smile of hers.” - Brian McCafferty

Along with the Sterling Award, Jennifer was recently honored with the Firestone Medal for Excellence in Undergraduate Research by the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education for her honors thesis, which covers research conducted in the Wender lab. The title of her honors thesis is "Novel Discrete Immolative Guanidinium Transporters Deliver mRNA Selectively to the Spleen, Lungs, and Red Blood Cells, Reaching the Brain."

Adding to her list of accomplishments, Jennifer was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society by Stanford University.