The Delaware Valley Chapter of HIMSS is proud to announce Zobia Chaudhry and Akhil Peddikuppa as recipients of the 2026–2027 DVHIMSS Academic Scholarship Awards.
The DVHIMSS Scholarship Program recognizes students who demonstrate academic achievement, leadership, and a commitment to improving healthcare through technology, innovation, research, and service.
This year’s recipients bring impressive and distinct perspectives to the future of healthcare. From biomedical imaging and cancer research to artificial intelligence, clinical informatics, medical billing innovation, and food insecurity, Zobia and Akhil demonstrate the interdisciplinary thinking that will help shape the next generation of healthcare.
Zobia Chaudhry
Zobia Chaudhry is a junior at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute majoring in Biology through RPI’s Physician-Scientist Program. Her academic and research interests center on the intersection of medicine, biotechnology, and biomedical imaging.
She is currently involved in research using fluorescence lifetime imaging to study the delivery of cancer-targeted therapies in biologically relevant tumor models.
Through her research, clinical experiences, and leadership involvement, Zobia hopes to build a career as a physician-scientist who bridges patient care with scientific discovery.
Having grown up in a low-income household, she understands how financial barriers can shape a family’s ability to access healthcare. One of her long-term goals is to establish free clinics that provide accessible, high-quality care to underserved communities, while continuing to contribute to research that advances more effective and equitable medical treatments.
Akhil Peddikuppa
Akhil Peddikuppa is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in Neuroscience with a minor in Chemistry. He has long been fascinated by science, but during his time at Penn, he discovered a particular passion for the intersection of medicine and artificial intelligence.
As an undergraduate, Akhil has pursued that interest through research in the Field Lab, where he uses Oxford Nanopore sequencing to help train neural networks to map oxidative DNA damage on telomeres. He also conducts research in the McCarthy Lab, where he builds large-language-model pipelines to accelerate clinical chart review.
Akhil is especially interested in the potential for technology to make healthcare more accurate, efficient, and accessible. He co-founded Horus Health, a startup that uses multi-agent AI to reduce medical billing errors, and leads Forward Future, a nonprofit built around FoodNex, an application focused on addressing food insecurity.
These experiences have strengthened his belief that thoughtful technology can help close meaningful gaps in the delivery of healthcare. Akhil is honored to be selected as a DVHIMSS Scholar and looks forward to continuing to learn, contribute, and explore new ways technology can improve healthcare.
Investing in the Next Generation of Healthcare Leaders
Zobia and Akhil represent two compelling examples of how the next generation of healthcare leaders is bringing together science, medicine, technology, artificial intelligence, research, and community service to address some of healthcare’s most important challenges.
As DVHIMSS Scholarship recipients, they will also have opportunities to engage with the Delaware Valley HIMSS community, connect with healthcare and technology professionals throughout the region, and contribute their perspectives to the chapter.
We are proud to support their continued education and professional development.
Please join us in congratulating Zobia Chaudhry and Akhil Peddikuppa on this well-deserved recognition.
We look forward to following their journeys and seeing the impact they make on healthcare, health information technology, and the communities they serve.
