Sibongile Mafu, Assistant Professor in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology department, was selected as a 2018 recipient of the Smith Family Awards Program for Excellence in Biomedical Research. The award supports newly independent biomedical researchers to help launch their careers and achieve medical breakthroughs.
Sibongile will use the three year, $300,000 award to continue her work on the discovery and mechanism of plant-derived antifungals. She is only the third researcher from UMass Amherst to receive the award since 1992, and the first since 2005.