Theodore Caputi: Inaugural LDI Undergraduate Research Prize

Theodore Caputi, a junior studying economics at the Wharton School and mathematics at the College of Arts & Sciences at Penn, won the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI) inaugural Undergraduate Health Services Research Prize. The prize, to be given annually, recognizes a student who has demonstrated a high level of interest and initiative in the area of health research services and health policy analysis. It includes mentoring by an LDI senior fellow, invitations to conferences and to to LDI’s research and policy seminars, and the potential to network throughout the year with some of the field’s leading experts.

Mr. Caputi, who researches substance abuse prevention, became a research assistant at Philadelphia’s Treatment Research Institute when he was in the 10th grade at Council Rock High School North in Newtown, Pennsylvania. Last year, he became a junior policy fellow at the University of Florida Drug Policy Institute. He is the winner of a 2014 Wharton Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR) grant and has worked as a research assistant to faculty members at Wharton and Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine. He is an intern in the office of US Senator Patrick Toomey, and is the president and founder of the Penn Leadership Training Institute, a non-profit organization of Penn undergrads providing free leadership training to middle and high school students in West Philadelphia.

2016 Thouron Award Winners

Five Penn seniors have received Thouron Awards to pursue graduate studies in the United Kingdom. The scholarship recipients are:

Peter Bryan of Vienna, Virginia, majoring in cognitive science and concentrating in neuroscience. He is applying to University College London for a master’s degree in computer science and machine learning.

Audrey Harnagel of Park City, Utah, majoring in biochemistry and philosophy. She is applying to the University of Cambridge for a master’s degree in history and philosophy of science and medicine.

Jade Huynh, from Whitehall, Pennsylvania, majoring in modern Middle Eastern studies. She is applying to the University of Oxford for a master’s degree in forced migration and refugee studies.

Angela Perfetti, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, majoring in modern Middle Eastern studies. She is applying to Durham University for a master’s degree in medical anthropology.

Emily Zhang, from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, majoring in bioengineering. She is applying to the University of Cambridge Institute of Biotechnology for a master’s degree in bioscience enterprise.

The Thouron Award, a graduate exchange program between Penn and British universities, aims to improve relations between the United States and the UK. Scholarship winners each receive tuition and stipends for one or two years, depending on the time required to earn a graduate degree. The Thouron Award was established and is supported by gifts from Sir John Thouron and the late Esther du Pont, Lady Thouron, of Unionville, Pennsylvania.

Three Penn alumni have also received Thouron Awards: Becky Sokolow, C’15; Maanvi Singh, C’15; and Elizabeth Thom, C’15.