Sonali Mali wins Schmidt Science Fellowship

April 7, 2025

Berkeley Neuroscience PhD student Sonali Mali has been selected as a 2025 Schmidt Science Fellow(link is external). She was one of only 32 researchers from around the world awarded the fellowship this year. The Schmidt Science Fellows program provides postdoctoral scientists with up to two years of funding to apply their knowledge to a new field of study with the goal of accelerating discoveries.

Mali is a member of the Bautista lab(link is external) and is expected to graduate this spring. The fellowship will support her transition to immunology after she graduates, when she plans to study how beneficial microbes shape the vaginal immune system. She hopes to discover new ways to prevent and treat infections without antibiotics, with the goal of improving reproductive, maternal, and infant health.

Schmidt Science Fellows is an initiative of Schmidt Sciences, delivered in partnership with the Rhodes Trust. Read more about Mali’s project(link is external) and Schmidt Science Fellows(link is external)

Headshot of Sonali Mali

Sonali Mali