Vanessa Frelih awarded 2026 Gluskho Prize

MBB is pleased to announce that Vanessa Nicole Frelih is the recipient of the 2026 Robert J. Glushko Senior Thesis Prize in Cognitive Science. Ms. Frelih is a neuroscience concentrator in its Mind Brain Behavior track who wrote her thesis Dissecting age-related cognitive flexibility deficits: Insights from synaptic plasticity and recurrent neural dynamics under the supervision of Dr. Jaeeon Lee and Prof. Naoshige Uchida of the FAS Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. The prize is awarded for the most outstanding thesis in the field of cognitive science, and includes $500 and a prize certificate. Ms. Frelih will present her thesis work at the MBB Senior Recognition Ceremony on Class Day.

In addition, honorable mentions went to Aanya Afridi, Gabrielle Poniz, and Kira Tian.

Aanya Afridi, Psychology
Investigating the impact of risk aversion and impulsivity on reinforcement learning and subsequent memory
advisor Daniel Dillon (Medical School)

Gabrielle Anne Poniz, Philosophy and Neuroscience
A neurophysiological theory of personhood for the person never seen
advisors Michael Young (Medical School) and Alison Simmons (FAS Philosophy)

Fangze Kira Tian, Psychology
Optimizing collaboration: How anticipated division of labor guides multidimensional competence training
advisors Yang Xiang (FAS Psychology) and Sam Gershman (FAS Psychology)

Congratulations to all and many thanks to everyone who submitted a thesis for consideration.