Lara Ozkan, an undergraduate researcher in the Conformable Decoders group, has been selected as the recipient of the 2025 Outstanding UROP Student Award for the School of Architecture and Planning.

The Outstanding UROP Student Awards recognize students who have made outstanding contributions as undergraduate researchers through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.  Recipients are nominated by their mentors, who may be faculty members, researchers, postdocs, or graduate students; each year, one student from each of MIT's schools is selected to receive the award.

Since joining the Conformable Decoders group during her freshman year, Lara has been involved in developing a wearable ultrasound bra for early breast cancer detection. Beyond the lab, she spearheaded commercialization efforts in collaboration with the MIT Deshpande Center, reflecting her commitment to translating research into accessible healthcare solutions.

In addition to her technical work, Lara has been an advocate for equity in women’s health research. She recently gave a TEDxMIT talk on the exclusion of women from biomedical research and the need for inclusive data in AI-driven healthcare. She also co-authored a public article in The Science Breaker and helped envision the MIT Media Lab Women’s Health Fellowship (WHx). Lara expanded her interdisciplinary knowledge through the lab’s microfabrication series and has shared her work widely through poster presentations, winning the HEALS Impacting Human Health Award and presenting at the Deshpande Center showcases. This UROP award reflects both her scientific excellence and commitment to inclusive health innovation.