We are proud to learn that Ritika Saxena has recently been named the Study Melbourne International Student of the Year for Research. Congratulations Ritika on a well-deserved award!

Professor Andrew Elefanty of The Blood Diseases Laboratory at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute says of Ritika, “She’s very much a natural leader [with an] infectious enthusiasm” for sharing her skills with others, and that Ritika is “one of the most exceptional students we’ve had.”

Arrow shares those sentiments, which is why Ritika was awarded the Arrow Hawkesbury Canoe Classic (HCC) in 2022.

Since then Ritika has been busy researching the formation of Haematopoietic Stem Cells with a view to being able to grow these cells in the lab from a patient’s own cells so that in the future there might be more suitable treatment options for bone marrow transplant patients who don’t have a matched donor.

As well as spending time working on her PhD project, Ritika has also been sharing her work at various conferences:  the third Nordic Conference in Copenhagen, and a virtual poster presentation at the University of Melbourne MDHS (Medicine Dentistry and Health Sciences) graduate conference.

There have been several personal wins for Ritika, too: She is now Chair of the reNew Early Career Researchers Committee (an international group of early career researchers dedicated to supporting PhD students and postdoctoral researchers), she gained Australian permanent residency in January, and has now been recently named the Study Melbourne International Student of the Year for Research. (See the video from Study Melbourne Awards below)

Ritika says of her Arrow/HCC scholarship, “I am incredibly grateful to the opportunities this prestigious scholarship has brought to me as I am sure this would not have been possible otherwise.”

Congratulations on your achievements to date, Ritika! We look forward to watching your ongoing success as an Arrow Hawkesbury Canoe Classic scholar.