Immunology student wins prestigious P.E.O. Scholar Award
Perot Family Scholar Gabrielle Lessen has earned an elite P.E.O. Scholar Award from P.E.O., a nonprofit that promotes academic excellence and achievement for women who aspire to change the world.
P.E.O. Scholar Awards, established in 1991, are bestowed annually to women pursuing doctoral-level degrees in the U.S. and Canada.
Ms. Lessen was nominated by the P.E.O. Chapter CQ in Dallas for her outstanding research, academics, leadership, and individualism. She is a sixth-year M.D./Ph.D. student in the Perot Family Scholars Medical Scientist Training Program at UT Southwestern and is completing her Ph.D. in the Immunology Graduate Program.
She currently works in the laboratory of Lenette Lu, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Immunology, where she studies tuberculosis, a disease that infects an estimated 25% of the world’s population and takes the lives of nearly 2 million people each year.
“It is a huge honor to receive this award, and I am humbled that the P.E.O. wants to support me in my dream to make a difference,” Ms. Lessen said. “I’m excited to join P.E.O.’s platform of passionate women from across different fields where we can celebrate our stories and motivate and support one another.”
Ms. Lessen developed a deep affection for science at a young age and was encouraged to study biochemistry by her older brother, Henry, a biophysics graduate student at the time. At Texas A&M University, she excelled in her studies as a Beckman Scholar, which enabled her to participate in different research experiences and develop a strong academic foundation.
Focus on glycobiology
In her last semester, she was introduced to the rapidly growing field of glycobiology, which led to her studies in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. “Glycobiology has the potential to help develop better, more rapid diagnostics for different disease states, including tuberculosis,” she said of this field, which involves studying the structure, function, and biology of carbohydrates.
While at Texas A&M, she was accepted into a summer undergraduate research fellowship program at UTSW and studied kidney cancer under James Brugarolas, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Internal Medicine and founding Director of the Kidney Cancer Program at the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. The experience solidified UT Southwestern as her top choice for an M.D./Ph.D. program. “This was my first time in an environment where I learned how we take science and turn it around into therapies. I loved the collaborative learning environment at UTSW, where I could walk down the hallway and ask questions of experts in their fields, and they were happy to help,” she said.
In 2018, she graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from Texas A&M. At UTSW, she has completed two years of medical school and is currently in her fourth year of graduate studies. After defending her dissertation in spring 2025, she will return to medical school and graduate from UTSW in 2027. Her goal is to practice pathology.
Grit and determination
Dr. Lu said Ms. Lessen’s record of academic and research excellence speaks to her promise as a physician-scientist in immunology, microbiology, and glycobiology.
“What sets Gabrielle apart is her courage to dive into new areas and her grit to make the difficult possible. Despite her minimal immunology exposure, Gabrielle asked to rotate in my lab because antibody functions – modulated by differential glycosylation – were a new and intriguing way for her to understand tuberculosis,” Dr. Lu said.
“Through the COVID-19 pandemic, she plunged herself into learning new techniques. In February 2021 during the worst Texas snowstorms in over a decade, Gabrielle extracted her samples from the centrifuge that stopped mid-spin because the power went out in our lab and moved to another part of campus with electricity, saving her experiment,” Dr. Lu added. “The data she generated then made it into my first National Institutes of Health research grant application, which was awarded. Gabrielle will excel in whatever she does.”
Ms. Lessen said she has become a stronger scientist with Dr. Lu as her Ph.D. adviser. “Dr. Lu has been an amazing mentor. She has taught me to break down complex questions into directed inquiries that I can answer through tangible goals and experiments. She also encourages me to be a well-rounded individual and shows me what a successful physician-scientist can be,” Ms. Lessen said.
Besides academics and research, Ms. Lessen is involved in a cappella, jazz ensemble, basketball, and volleyball. She volunteers with UT Southwestern’s United to Serve annual health fair, mentors UTSW students, and looks forward to advancing her career.
“This award is special because it looks at your well-roundedness as an individual. Science is important, but to make an impact, we must do what we can for our community and try to better ourselves every day,” she said.