Geisinger School of Medicine student, an Abigail Geisinger Scholar, wins prestigious Sarnoff Fellowship

SCRANTON – The Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Foundation has selected Geisinger School of Medicine’s Emily Halbedl, MD ’26 as a 2025-26 Sarnoff Fellow. She and 19 other medical student fellows were introduced at the Foundation’s 45th Annual Scientific Meeting held May 2–4 in Cambridge, Mass. 

“This fellowship is highly prestigious and a wonderful accomplishment for Emily and for our school,” said Sonia Lobo, PhD, RYT, Halbedl’s sponsor and the associate dean for research and scholarship at Geisinger College of Health Sciences. “As a Sarnoff Fellow, Emily will work with top cardiovascular scientists and investigators and have the chance to conduct cutting-edge research. Best of all, as an Abigail Geisinger Scholar, she will return to Geisinger and share her expertise with our communities.”

Fellows are guided by the Sarnoff Scientific Committee, consisting of the nation's preeminent physician-scientists in cardiovascular science. The research, however, is conceived, designed and conducted by the fellow. 

Halbedl, a member of Geisinger School of Medicine’s Medical Research Honors Program, is involved in research with Geisinger’s pediatric weight management program and its effects on childhood obesity and comorbidities like diabetes and hypertension. She also spent time between her first and second years at Geisinger at the NIDDK Medical Student Research Program in Diabetes at Vanderbilt University, where she researched a novel treatment for atherosclerosis.

The mission of the Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Foundation is to engage medical students and young investigators in a personalized research experience with preeminent cardiovascular scientists, and to foster the next generation of leaders in the field. 

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