Jessie Ong finished her bachelor's and master's degrees in biology at Stanford in three years. Now she's heading to Oxford on one of the most competitive doctoral scholarships in science.

Stanford announced on Monday, July 20, that Ong, a 2026 graduate, has been named a Graduate Ellison Scholar. The fully funded award sends exceptional doctoral candidates to the University of Oxford to work with leading researchers on global challenges. Ong is only the second Stanford student selected for the program, according to the university.

Starting this fall, Ong will pursue a DPhil in pediatric immunology with the Oxford Vaccine Group and the Ellison Institute of Technology. Her research will use artificial intelligence to model how the human immune system responds to infection, with the goal of designing next-generation vaccines that can be developed faster and more cheaply against emerging and drug-resistant pathogens.

"I'm excited for the next four years at the Oxford Vaccine Group, under the advisership of professors Daniela M. Ferreira and Sir Andrew Pollard," Ong said in Stanford's announcement.

Her advisers lead a £118 million AI-driven vaccine research program called CoI-AI, launched in September 2025 through a partnership between Oxford and the Ellison Institute. Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, described the initiative at its launch as "a new frontier in vaccine science" aimed at tackling deadly infections and antibiotic resistance. Professor Daniela Ferreira, the group's deputy director, said the program would provide new tools to study how vaccines work at both a cellular and system-wide level.

Ong's path to Oxford runs through labs on three continents. At Stanford, she trained in synthetic biology. She also worked at the Harvard Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the Italian Institute of Technology's Brain Development and Disease lab. She presented research at TEDxStanford, the University of Lausanne, and the Gordon Research Conference.

A first-generation American and immigrant from Thailand and Singapore, Ong was raised in part by her aunt, who has Down syndrome. She advocates for mentorship of first-generation students and for people with Down syndrome.

The Ellison Scholars program, funded by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, recruits roughly 20 students worldwide each year and covers full tuition, a living stipend, and the equivalent of paid internships. The Ellison Institute is building a campus at the Oxford Science Park, due to open fully in 2027 at a cost exceeding £1 billion.

Stanford's Office of Global Scholarships handles overseas scholarship nominations for students and faculty.