University of Pennsylvania fourth-years Tej Patel and Sridatta Teerdhala, both in the Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management, a dual degree in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Wharton School, have been chosen as 2025 Marshall Scholars. Established by the British Government, the Marshall Scholarship funds up to three years of study for a graduate degree in any field in an institution in the United Kingdom.
Patel and Teerdhala are among the 36 Marshall Scholars for 2025 representing 26 institutions in the United States chosen from 983 applicants. Meant to strengthen U.S.-U.K. relations, the prestigious scholarship is offered to about 50 Americans a year, chosen based on academic merit, leadership, and ambassadorial potential.
Patel, from Billerica, Massachusetts, is studying molecular biology, health care management and policy, and statistics. An advocate and a volunteer, Patel is interested in making health care systems more equitable and cost-effective. His research, published in several medical journals, focuses on health economics, radiation oncology, and human-algorithm collaboration in clinical care. A 2024 Truman Scholar, Patel co-founded the Social Equity Action Lab, a youth-led think tank that brings together students, institutional partners, and policymakers to inform legislation. On campus, Patel is the director of the Locust Bioventures group, coordinator for the Netter Center Pipeline Program, and policy/outcomes researcher for the Shelter Health Outreach Program. He has interned with the Mongan Institute for Health Policy and Institute for Healthcare Improvement, working on projects covering Medicare Part D policy and alternative payment models. He also is a researcher for the Turn on the Lights podcast about the U.S. healthcare system. Patel works in Penn Medicine’s Radiation Oncology and Breast Surgery departments, as well as the Human Algorithm Collaboration Lab, where he led a systemwide study examining the cost-effectiveness of a machine-learning intervention meant to increase serious illness conversations in end-of-life care. With the Marshall, Patel plans to pursue an MSc in global health science and epidemiology and an MSc in applied digital health at University of Oxford with a goal of becoming a physician-policymaker.
Teerdhala, from Richardson, Texas, is studying biology and economics with concentrations in healthcare management and finance. The son of Indian immigrants, Teerdhala advocates for health care access and innovation, combining science and business to address pressing medical challenges. At Penn, he is an undergraduate researcher at the Mitchell Lab, developing novel lipid nanoparticle technologies for affordable cancer immunotherapies. He also works for the Chan Lab at UT Southwestern, contributing to the commercialization of breast cancer immunotherapies while providing strategic consulting to health care startups through Wharton Snider Consulting. Teerdhala is actively involved in Hoops4Hope, an organization that supports a basketball league for homeless shelters, integrating health care and career development initiatives for participants. As an LSM Educational Pipeline Program coordinator, Teerdhala mentors underrepresented high school students in West Philadelphia. He volunteers at the Philadelphia Veteran Affairs Medical Center and the Penn Center for Surgical Health, where he supports patients navigating their health care journeys. With Marshall, Teerdhala plans to first pursue an MPhil in medical sciences at the University of Cambridge in England, leveraging multidimensional molecular tissue imaging and computational analysis to advance innovative approaches for diagnosing and treating cancer. He then plans to attend the London School of Economics and Political Science and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine pursuing a master’s degree in health policy, planning and financing, to learn how to translate innovative cancer diagnostics and treatments to low/middle-income countries.
Patel and Teerdhala applied for the Marshall Scholarship with assistance from the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. They are the 26th and 27th Marshall Scholars from Penn since the scholarship’s inception in 1953, and among the 13 Penn affiliates chosen in the last seven consecutive years.
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