Big Proposal Bootcamp Participants

These participants underwent a 12-week program to build skills for developing large-scale, cross-disciplinary proposals and to connect with the diverse network of support resources Pitt has to offer as they develop those proposals. During the program, participants had the opportunity to develop the outline of a big proposal, and the series concluded with a “pitch” competition. The winning pitch was rewarded with a small prize to support the development of their project.

2026

Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences
Kaz Koide, Department of Chemistry
Ben Rottman, Department of Psychology
Jon Rubin, Department of Mathematics
Kamesha Spates, Department of Africana Studies

School of Business
Mark (Shuai) Ma, College of Business Administration

School of Dental Medicine
Andrew Jheon, Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics

School of Education
DC Lee, Department of Health and Human Development
Heather McCambly, Department of Educational Foundations, Organizations and Policy

Swanson School of Engineering
Markus Chmielus, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Neeraj Gandhi, Department of Bioengineering
Carrie Iwema, George M. Bevier Science & Engineering Library
Carla Ng, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Will Evans, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders

School of Medicine
Partha Dutta, Department of Medicine
Zachary Freyberg, Department of Psychiatry
Melanie Scott, Department of Surgery
Anne Stetler, Department of Neurology
Alberto Vazquez, Department of Radiology

School of Nursing
Heeyoung Lee, Department of Health & Community Systems

School of Pharmacy
Lucas Hill, Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics

School of Public Health
Tamara Dubowitz, Department of Epidemiology

University Center for Social and Urban Research
Bob Gradeck

2025

Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences
Rachel Bezanson, Department of Physics & Astronomy
Michael Glass, Department of Sociology
Melissa Libertus, Department of Psychology
Pernille Roege, Department of History
Evan Schneider, Department of Physics & Astronomy

School of Business
Ravi Madhavan, College of Business Administration

School of Computing and Information
Kaushik Seshadreesan, Department of Informatics and Networked Systems

School of Dental Medicine
Martinna Bertolini, Department of Periodontics and Preventive Dentistry

School of Education
Shannon Wanless, Department of Health and Human Development
Hayley Weddle, Department of Educational Foundations, Organization, and Policy

Swanson School of Engineering
Jingtong Hu, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
John Keith, Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering
Gelsy Torres, Department of Bioengineering

School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Natalie Leland, Department of Occupational Therapy

School of Law
Phil Hackney
J.S. Nelson
Ann Sinsheimer
Andrele St. Val

School of Medicine
César Escobar-Viera, Department of Psychiatry
Michael Lotze, Department of Surgery
Francisco Schopfer, Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology

School of Nursing
Heidi Donovan, Department of Health and Community Systems
Margaret (Peg) Rosenzweig, Department of Acute and Tertiary Care

School of Public and International Affairs
Andrea Peña-Vasquez

University of Pittsburgh Library System
Rachel Starry, Department of Research, Learning, and Media

2024

Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences
Justin Kitzes, Department of Biological Sciences
Diana Leyva, Department of Psychology/Learning Research and Development Center
Ruth Mostern, Department of History 
Mike Ramsey, Department of Geology and Environmental Science
Emily Wanderer, Department of Anthropology

School of Computing and Information
Xiaowei Jia, Department of Computer Science
Xulong Tang, Department of Computer Science

School of Dental Medicine
Dan Clark, Department of Periodontics and Preventive Dentistry

Swanson School of Engineering
TK Kozai, Department of Bioengineering
Albert To, Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science

School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Clive D’Souza, Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology

School of Law
John Linarelli

School of Medicine
Christine Leeper, Department of Surgery and Critical Care Medicine
Yalini Senathirajah, Department of Biomedical Informatics
Katie Suda, Department of Medicine

School of Nursing
Teresa Hagan Thomas, Department of Health Promotion and Development

School of Pharmacy
Lucas Berenbrok, Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics
Simone Brixius-Anderko, Department of Pharmaceutical Science

School of Public Health
Ryan Minster, Department of Human Genetics
Danielle Tufts, Department of Infectious Disease and Microbiology

School of Social Work
Kyaien Conner

University of Pittsburgh Library System
Jeff Wisniewski, Communications and Web Services