David Dooley, a graduate student in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has been selected as a recipient of the 2025–2026 Yates Dissertation Fellowship.
By receiving this fellowship for returning students, Dooley is being recognized as one of the most promising graduate and professional students at the University of Tennessee. The fellowship provides a total of $10,000 for the 2025–26 academic year.
“I am deeply honored to receive this distinguished fellowship and want to extend my sincerest thanks to those who nominated and selected me,” said Dooley, a married father of two. “Assembling a dissertation can sometimes feel overwhelming, but receiving this award gives me confidence in the work I have completed and provides invaluable support as I approach the final stages of my doctorate.”
The Yates Dissertation Fellowships were established in June 2000 with a generous bequest from the estate of Arthur E. Yates, president of Yates Bleachery Company and a dedicated friend to the University of Tennessee. The fellowship encourages, recognizes, and supports outstanding graduate students.
Dooley’s research focuses include combating antimicrobial resistance with sequence-specific CRISPR-Cas antimicrobials; rational design of CRISPR guide RNAs in monoplex, multiplex, and multitargeting modalities for CRISPR antimicrobials, genome editing, and microbiome manipulation; and multi-OMICS analysis for elucidating phenotype-genotype connections.
Dooley is advised by Professor Cong Trinh, a Ferguson Faculty Fellow in Chemical Engineering. He is the first student in Trinh’s group to receive the fellowship since Trinh arrived at UT in 2011.
“David is really hard working and puts a lot of effort into his research,” Trinh said. “He’s very persistent in tackling problems and finding creative ways to do that. He learns from any failures and has the courage to move forward. He’s also a very good lab citizen. He mentors undergraduate students in the lab and is always willing to help anyone.”
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683, rpotkey@utk.edu)