Right photo: Kevin Jiang and Dean Williamson-Lott
Kevin Jiang, a recent Ph.D. graduate in Bioengineering, took First Place at this year’s University of Washington’s Three Minute Thesis (UW 3MT) Competition. Grace Umutesi, a Ph.D. student in Global Health Metrics & Implementation Science, was named Runner-Up and earned the People’s Choice Award.
UW 3MT® is a professional development competition that celebrates the exciting capstone and research experiences of master’s and doctoral students from all three UW campuses. The competition supports graduate students’ capacity to effectively explain their research or capstone project in three minutes, in a language appropriate to a public audience.
This year, ten finalists took the stage — covering topics like space law, HPV prevention in East Africa, AI-assisted treatment management for tuberculosis, the positive effects of nature in early childhood development, and more. The finalists competed for cash prizes, including $1000 for First Place and $500 each for the Runner-Up and People’s Choice Awards.
“Our 3MT finalists are brilliant examples of the excellence we see across UW’s graduate programs,” said Dr. Joy Williamson-Lott, Dean of The UW Graduate School. “Their ability to distill complex research into clear, compelling stories reflects the heart of graduate education—pursuing knowledge that has the power to change lives, while building meaningful connections across disciplines and communities.”
Jiang’s presentation, “Preventing the Next Pandemic: Developing Next-Generation At-Home Diagnostics,” was inspired by a personal experience—his family member’s cancer diagnosis, which conventionally has a better outcome with earlier detection. That moment sparked his commitment to improving access to timely, accurate diagnostic tools.
Similarly, Umutesi drew on her lived experience in East Africa, as she works to strengthen local health systems and champion innovative solutions to urgent public health challenges. Her talk, “Single-Dose HPV Vaccination: A Dose of Hope in the Fight Against Cervical Cancer in East Africa,” highlights the promise of a simplified, scalable approach to lifesaving prevention.
Each May, the university’s annual 3MT® competition is presented in partnership by the Graduate School’s office of Graduate Student Affairs and the UW Libraries Research Commons.
Congratulations to this year’s winners and all of the finalists for sharing your work and representing the breadth and brilliance of graduate research at the UW.