Dr. Tomisaku Kawasaki Memorial Scholarship Recipients
Scholarship Recipient: Kate Xu
Scholarship Year: Fall 2025 – Spring 2026
Scholarship Type: High school student entering a university
University Name: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Scholarship Amount: $5,000
Kate Xu was diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease (KD) at the age of three after multiple misdiagnoses in the emergency room. It wasn’t until her third hospital visit that a doctor finally recognized the symptoms and treated her just in time to avoid potential long-term complications. Though too young at the time to remember the experience, learning about her diagnosis later in life profoundly shaped Kate’s perspective and life path.
As she got older, Kate began exploring the mystery behind her diagnosis—questioning the lack of information, the frequent misdiagnoses, and the limited public awareness of KD. Her passion for understanding the unknown led her to self-study programming and machine learning. In eighth grade, she analyzed a large KD dataset, discovering a correlation between KD subtypes and responsiveness to IVIG treatment, as well as a potential gene marker shared by many patients. For Kate, the numbers in her research were not just statistics—they were stories of children like herself.
Scholarship Recipient: Julia Fitzgerald
Scholarship Year: Fall 2024-Spring 2025
Scholarship Type: Student currently enrolled in a university
University Name: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Scholarship Amount: $10,000
Julia Fitzgerald was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease (KD) in 2006 at the age of two. It took a few days for the doctor to make a correct diagnosis, but an echocardiogram confirmed KD after displaying several telltale symptoms. After receiving IVIG treatment, Julia’s symptoms subsided, and she was discharged from the hospital with no long-term consequences.
Over the years, Julia and her family stayed involved with the KD community by attending awareness events and the annual symposium online to stay informed about the latest KD research developments. Recently, Julia joined KDF Youth to help host fundraising and awareness campaigns.
Scholarship Recipient: Aditya Gupta
Scholarship Year: Fall 2024-Spring 2025
Scholarship Type: High school student entering a university
University Name: Tufts University
Scholarship Amount: $5,000
Aditya Gupta’s journey into the medical field was not just a career choice, but a testament to his resilience and determination. Diagnosed with Kawasaki disease (KD) at the tender age of five, he vividly remembers the worry in his parents’ eyes as nurses and doctors tirelessly worked to diagnose his condition. This challenging experience, instead of deterring him, fueled his passion to make a difference in the medical field. As a graduating high school student, he is preparing to embark on his studies at Tufts University, where he will pursue a double major in biomedical and computer science. His ultimate goal is to become a Doctorate of Medicine and of Philosophy (MD-PhD) and utilize computational medicine to study the causes and mechanisms of KD, a disease that once affected him personally.