Two JHU alumni named Knight-Hennessy Scholars at Stanford University

Two Johns Hopkins alumni, Ank Agarwal and Anson Zhou, will join the 7th cohort of Knight-Hennessy Scholars at Stanford University.

The Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program brings together exceptional graduate students from across all seven schools at Stanford to participate in multidisciplinary dialogue and leadership training. Scholars receive a fellowship for up to three years of tuition, a stipend for living and academic expenses, and a travel stipend for one annual trip to and from Stanford.

Ank Agarwal, from New Haven, Connecticut, is pursuing an MD and a PhD in cancer biology at the Stanford School of Medicine. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a bachelor's degree in biology from the Krieger School in 2019. His interests lie at the intersection of cancer, dermatology, education, and health disparities. Previously, Ank worked to advance women's menstrual health rights in prisons and jails, taught English to native Chinese and Spanish speakers in those facilities, and researched solutions to children's education disparities. He also played guitar in several bands and founded Ank Guitars, a company that crafted custom instruments for professional musicians and individuals with mobility challenges. At Johns Hopkins, he won the Woodrow Wilson, Hodson Trust, and Unsung Hero awards for his research and efforts to tackle disparities in prisons and in children's education.

Anson Zhou, from Medford, New York, is pursuing an MD at Stanford School of Medicine and an MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering from the Whiting School in 2023. Anson aspires to bridge engineering, business, and medicine to catalyze translation of healthcare and life science innovations. At Johns Hopkins, he conducted research in biomaterials for regenerative medicine at the Institute for NanoBioTechnology. This led to him co-founding Innerva, where he developed devices to treat peripheral nerve injuries. He interned at Health Advances and Schrödinger, building strategies for therapeutics adoption and computational drug discovery. Anson also worked as a fellow at Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures and NeuroTech Harbor to support funding efforts across the life sciences. Since graduating, he has worked as an associate consultant at Bain & Company in its private equity practice. He received a Lemelson-MIT Student Prize.

To learn more about applying for the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship and other awards and fellowships, visit the university's National Fellowship Program website.