Full Announcement

MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department student David Reshef, a June 2008 SB recipient and currently completing the requirements for an MEng. degree in eecs, is one of four MIT students selected for the Marshall Award. Since 1953 and in recognition and thanks to the United States for the aid the US gave to England under the post-World War II Marshall Plan, the British government awards these scholarships annually to up to 40 American students, allowing each to study at the graduate level at a British academic institution in any field of study.

Reshef, of Livingston, N.J., has supplemented his studies at MIT and in EECS with research at both Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School-Massachusetts General Hospital. While at MGH, Reshef has designed a software program that can analyze prodigious numbers of datasets that within minutes produce interactive charts detailing the various similarities that malaria outbreaks share, such as population density, proximity to wells, religious makeup of the community, etc. As a result of the great interest pouring in from the public health community, Reshef is now working with datasets from the Center for Disease Control and the Clinton Foundation.

Reshef was a keen student of both magic and photography as a child, and now uses his magic skills to cheer and encourage sick children, performing for the pediatric ward in MGH and at other clinics on volunteer travels. He is described by Kimberly Benard, program advisor for Distinguished Fellowships as "a driven young man who has already made lasting contributions to the study of infectious diseases."

On completion of his M.Eng. degree, David Reshef is planning to pursue a doctorate in epidemiology at Oxford University. Read more about the Marshall Scholarships awarded to MIT students in the December 1, 2008 MIT News Office article.

Congratulations David!