Vainavi Gambhir Named 2025 University Medalist
Senior biological sciences major Vainavi Gambhir hasn’t yet enrolled in medical school, but she’s already making an impact on the health of children.
While working with the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute’s Pediatric Oncology Branch, she authored three workbooks for children and families dealing with a bleeding disorder and presented them at two international conferences. During a Fulbright Canada-Mitacs internship, she studied rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer, at a major Quebec lab. And as a health care intern for U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen and former Sen. Ben Cardin, both of Maryland, she routinely advised the health care team and prepared policy memoranda for her bosses.
“I want my impact in health care to extend beyond the hospital,” she said. “I want a seat at the decision-making table, advising on health interventions that put children first.”
At UMD's Main Commencement Ceremony on May 21, 2025, Gambhir will receive the University Medal, honoring a graduating senior demonstrating academic distinction, outstanding character and extracurricular community impact. This fall, she will enroll in the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai following early admission, aiming to become a physician and health policy advocate with specialties in pediatrics and holistic wellness.
A Banneker/Key Scholar, Gambhir amassed other remarkable achievements as an undergrad. While shadowing Jay A. Perman, chancellor of the University System of Maryland (USM) and a physician, Gambhir inspired his pediatric gastroenterology clinic to adjust its approach by communicating more clearly with patients and encouraging conversation. She displayed “surprisingly acute sensitivity” with “remarkable humanity and depth of thought,” Perman said.
Gambhir’s accomplishments go beyond medicine. She served as president of the USM Student Council, representing more than 170,000 undergraduates and graduates across 12 Maryland public universities, and developed a student speaker forum that offered space for innovative ideas and sometimes-competing opinions. She also co-created the USM Board of Regents Student Excellence Scholarship program that distributes $24,000 annually.
In Annapolis, Gambhir serves as executive director of the Legislative Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus at the Maryland General Assembly. And in her spare time, she creates award-winning acrylic pieces in the Indian subcontinent’s ancient Madhubani folk tradition, portraying children overcoming disease and societal pressures. A certified yoga instructor, Gambhir also introduced a yoga program at the NIH’s Children’s Inn, a residence for pediatric clinical patients, to foster psychosocial wellness.
She called her enrollment at UMD “the best decision of my life, and I will forever be grateful. I don’t think I’d have this voice or lead in the way I’m able if it weren’t for this institution.”
