Mahrukh Naqvi, a third-year medical student, has been awarded a highly competitive ASTRO Medical Student Fellowship. This prestigious award recognizes promising future leaders in radiation oncology, providing a unique opportunity for in-depth research and learning in the field. 

Only ten students nationwide received this fellowship. "It means a lot to be selected," Naqvi shared.

The fellowship includes an intensive eight-week training program, meetings with radiation oncologists from across the US, and an original collaborative research project, which Naqvi plans to submit to the 2026 ASTRO conference.

Naqvi's collaborative research project investigates the impact of radiation therapy on speech and swallowing, integrating her interests in cancer research and speech-language pathology. When patients undergo radiation near the mouth, it can cause scarring and changes that make speaking and swallowing difficult. This research aims to measure this difficulty using the International Dysphagia Diet Standardization Initiative’s framework, a unified scale for rating food consistency, to ultimately determine how the level of radiation exposure influences dysphagia.

"The implications of this research are significant," Naqvi explained. "By understanding the correlation between dysphagia and radiation, we can develop guidelines to minimize these side effects."

Inspired by Mentorship

Naqvi credits her mentor, Vinita Takiar, MD, PhD, for her guidance and support throughout this process. Naqvi shadowed Takiar during her second year of medical school and was inspired by her work, which ultimately led to this fellowship award. 

"Dr. Takiar won ASTRO’s Mentor of the Year last year, and it's easy to see why," Naqvi said. "She has been so inspiring. If I have a question, ten minutes later she has an answer. She makes time to address any concerns I have and to work through problems. I can’t imagine someone who has been more of a leader or mentor.”

Farah Kaval, MA, a Speech and Language Pathologist at UC Health, and Kenneth Danielson, MD, a diagnostic radiologist and assistant professor in the UC College of Medicine, are key collaborators on the project. Vinita Takiar, MD, PhD, also received a 2025 ASTRO-BCRF Medical Student Fellowships Mentor Award for her role in mentoring Naqvi on this project.