Dr. Michael Rimlawi Announces Scholarship for Aspiring Physicians
DALLAS, April 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spine surgeon Dr. Michael Rimlawi is proud to announce the launch of the Dr. Michael Rimlawi Scholarship for Future Doctors, a prestigious award dedicated to supporting undergraduate and graduate students pursuing a career in medicine. This scholarship, awarded through a competitive essay contest, reflects Dr. Rimlawi's deep commitment to education, innovation, and patient-centered care.
The scholarship is open to students enrolled at accredited institutions who are passionate about becoming doctors. Applicants must submit an original essay responding to the prompt:
What inspired you to pursue a career in medicine, and how do you hope to make a difference in the field?
Dr. Rimlawi's own journey into medicine was shaped by a personal experience. After suffering a back injury in college and struggling to find lasting relief through various treatments including chiropractic care, physical therapy, and traditional medicine, he was inspired to make a difference in spinal healthcare. He went on to invent and patent several minimally invasive spine surgery techniques, significantly improving outcomes. His inventions had the benefit of reducing post operative pain, small incisions, minimizing scar tissue, lower infection rates, minimal blood loss, and a quicker recovery time when compared to traditional spine surgery.
As part of their essays, applicants are encouraged to share personal experiences whether their own or those of friends or family that have fueled their passion for improving the healthcare system. Submissions will be evaluated on originality, clarity, and alignment with Dr. Rimlawi's values of medical innovation, excellence, and a drive to disrupt and improve healthcare.
Dr. Rimlawi's dedication to philanthropy extends beyond scholarships. He has long been involved in charitable efforts, from supporting veterans with complex spine injuries to raising funds for pediatric cancer research and providing life-changing medical care through mission trips to underserved countries.
Key Scholarship Details:
. Eligibility: Open to undergraduate and graduate students pursuing a career in medicine
. Application Process: Submit an essay (500-750 words) along with personal and academic r. Deadline: December 15, 2025
. Deadline: December 15, 2025.
. Winner Announcement: January 15, 2026
Dr. Michael Rimlawi is a recognized leader in minimally invasive spine surgery. He was the first U.S. surgeon to perform the Globus Minimally Invasive XLIF procedure and has pioneered revolutionary micro-endoscopic spine surgery. He is patented three medical devices for spine surgery. He was one of the pioneers of being able to perform complex lumbar/cervical surgeries and artificial disc replacements in an outpatient setting due to the minimal blood loss and recovery needed for his Minimally Invasive Spine surgeries. Beyond his contributions to medicine, he is passionate about mentoring future doctors, which led him to establish this scholarship.
Becoming a doctor requires immense dedication, time, and financial resources. My hope is that this scholarship eases the burden for talented students who share my commitment to improving healthcare and making a meaningful impact in patient's lives, said Dr. Michael Rimlawi.
Students interested in applying should submit their essays and required details via email to apply@drmichaelrimlawischolarship.com.
More than just financial aid, this scholarship embodies Dr. Rimlawi's belief in the power of education and innovation to shape the future of medicine. Aspiring physicians are encouraged to seize this opportunity to showcase their passion and dedication to healthcare. Award Amount: $1,000 per winner (at least one recipient, with potential for more).
For more information on the scholarship and application guidelines, visit drmichaelrimlawischolarship.com.
About Dr. Michael Rimlawi
Dr. Michael Rimlawi is a board-certified, fellowship, trained spine surgeon and a pioneer in minimally invasive surgical techniques. He has received numerous accolades, including the Healthcare Heroes award, Top 10 surgeons award, and numerous patient choice awards. He remains dedicated to advancing medical innovation while mentoring future healthcare leaders.
Contact Information:
Spokesperson: Dr. Michael RimlawiOrganization: Dr. Michael Rimlawi ScholarshipWebsite: drmichaelrimlawischolarship.comEmail: apply@drmichaelrimlawischolarship.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c13c96e4-f29c-477f-ba66-e9f793201505Sign in to access your portfolio
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Full list of Finalists - Top 25 Entries Striking solo photography Searching for Life – Sandipani Chattopadhyay (India) Urban Travel – Mithail Afrige Chowdhury (Bangladesh) Marks of Majesty: Vanessa – Julia Comita & Stephanie Francis (USA) Musa – Marijn Fidder (Uganda/Netherlands) The Light Will Come – Dora Grivopoulou (Greece) Cricket is My Emotion – Ziaul Huque (Bangladesh) Pie-by-Sam – Reatile Moalusi (South Africa) Beautiful Disaster – Alexandru Radu Popescu (Romania) Resilience Artist – Pyaephyo Thetpaing (Myanmar) Stereo EEG Self-Portrait – Muir Vidler (UK) Transparent Curtains – Oded Wagenstein (Israel) Self, Five Years On – Georgie Wileman (UK) A storytelling series The Loss Mother's Stone – Nancy Borowick (US Virgin Islands) A Dream to Cure Water – Ciril Jazbec (UK) Nemo's Garden – Giacomo d'Orlando (Italy) A Thousand Cuts – Sujata Setia (UK) I Spend 150 Hours Alone Each Week – Madeleine Waller (Australia/UK) The marvels of scientific and medical imaging From Butterflies to Humans – Amaia Alcalde Anton (UK) Ice and Fire Chronics: The Chagas Disease Invader – Ingrid Augusto, Kildare Rocha de Miranda & Vânia da Silva Vieira (Brazil) Cholesterol in the Liver – Steve Gschmeissner (UK) Blooming Barrier – Lucy Holland (UK) Submarine Fever – Jander Matos & Joaquim Nascimento (Brazil) Organoids – Oliver Meckes & Nicole Ottawa, Eye of Science (Germany) I've Got You, Under My Skin: Microplastics in Mammalian Tissue – P. 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Setia worked with the women and with the charity SHEWISE to create portraits that protected anonymity without erasing identity, applying the Indian paper-cutting technique sanjhi to overlay each photograph. The results are intimate, powerful reflections on generational trauma, silence, survival, and the politics of representation. From the account of a woman forced into marriage twice by her father and left with lasting PTSD, to a mother determined to break the cycle of violence for her daughter, the series captures how abuse can become ingrained and normalised, and how art can offer a means of reclaiming narrative. Sujata Setia says, ' This is a monumental recognition. A Thousand Cuts being selected for Wellcome Photography Prize affirms that health cannot be separated from the histories that shape it. And that domestic abuse is never a singular event; it leaves a direct, trans-generational imprint on health. As a child who grew up in a home where violence was a daily occurrence, I carry that trauma like another limb. This recognition validates not just my story, but the invisible, intangible, yet deeply scarring legacy of gender-based abuse. Domestic abuse is one of the most widespread global crimes; and yet remains among the least publicly acknowledged health crises. I hope this moment becomes a catalyst for deeper dialogue and scholarship around the interrelation between domestic abuse and health. That is our collective hope.' Mithail Afrige Chowdhury was awarded the Striking Solo Photography prize for Urban Travel , a deceptively gentle image of a mother and daughter on a rooftop picnic in Dhaka. With few parks left in the city due to rapid urbanisation, this staged moment, a simple attempt to give a child a taste of nature, becomes an act of resilience. Nearly half of Dhaka's population today are climate migrants, displaced by increasingly extreme weather, and Chowdhury's work highlights the everyday consequences of these shifts: the loss of green space, of childhood rituals, of breath. The photograph is tender, composed, and yet filled with tension, a portrait of care and adaptation under invisible pressures. Mithail Afrige Chowdhury says, ' When I got the news, the first thing I did was charge my camera—not to take a photo, but to restart something I thought I'd lost. I won't dwell on personal or professional hardships, but this moment means more than I can say. I made this image two years ago, as part of a major project on climate change, urban sustainability, and public health. Then life intervened, and fear slowly pulled me away from the work I loved. But now, I can wake up with an objective. Because someone has my back. And that makes all the difference. Awards can feel technical but this recognition from Wellcome feels deeply human.' The winner of The Marvels of Scientific and Medical Imaging was announced as Steve Gschmeissner, whose electron microscopy image Cholesterol in the Liver reveals cholesterol crystals (shown in blue) forming inside lipid-laden liver cells (purple). These microscopic shifts, invisible to the naked eye, can have deadly consequences: when cholesterol hardens from liquid to crystal, it damages blood vessels and contributes to heart disease and strokes. Gschmeissner's colourised SEM image transforms this biological process into something visually striking, part data, part artwork. With a career spanning over four decades, and more than 10,000 images published in scientific journals, stamp collections, fashion collaborations, and music albums, his work exemplifies how imaging can bridge science and culture. Steve Gschmeissner says, ' When I discovered that Wellcome had reintroduced the Marvels of Scientific and Medical Imaging category, I was delighted to enter such a prestigious competition. I was thrilled to be shortlisted, and winning first prize is undoubtedly one of the highlights of my 50-year career of trying to bring the wonders of the microscopic world to all.' This year's prize drew submissions from over 100 countries. The Top 25 entries featured over 30 individuals from 18 countries, spanning Bangladesh, Brazil, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Myanmar, Peru, South Africa, Spain, Uganda, the UK, USA and beyond. The winners were selected by an international judging panel comprising leading voices from photography, science, health and journalism. The panel was chaired by Melanie Keen, Director of Wellcome Collection, and included Caroline Hunter, Picture Editor at The Guardian ; Daniella Zalcman, Photographer and Founder of Women Photograph; Benjamin Ryan, Independent Science Journalist; Elizabeth Wathuti, Environmental and Climate Activist; Esmita Charani, Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town; Helen Fisher, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at King's College London; Noah Green, Science Educator at the Beautiful Biology Initiative; and Mark Lythgoe, Director of the UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging. Wellcome Photography Prize Exhibition Curated by Laurie Britton Newell and Ligaya Salazar, the Wellcome Photography Prize exhibition features images that reflect a wide spectrum of health experiences, from everyday routines to global challenges. Using techniques such as portraiture, cyanotypes, drone photography, and light and electron microscopy, the image makers show how health is lived, documented and researched around the world. Many of the works respond to Wellcome's core focus areas, mental health, climate and health, infectious disease and discovery research. Together, they reveal how these issues overlap and take shape in different cultural and geographic contexts. The result is a layered and often unexpected portrait of health today, told through voices and perspectives that are frequently overlooked. Among this year's highlights are Marks of Majesty: Vanessa by Julia Comita and Stephanie Francis, a portrait honouring the life and choices of a person impacted by breast cancer who opted for aesthetic flat closure, challenging assumptions around gender, illness and identity. Beautiful Disaster by Alexandru Radu Popescu shows a lake of toxic mining waste in Romania that continues to expand each year, an image of both striking beauty and environmental damage. Resilience Artist by Pyaephyo Thetpaing captures a craftsman in Myanmar who creates lacquerware using his foot, offering a broader reflection on health, disability and the role of cultural tradition in healing. In the scientific imaging category, Ice and Fire Chronics by Ingrid Augusto, Kildare Rocha de Miranda and Vânia da Silva Vieira shows the structure of the parasite that causes Chagas disease, which affects millions across the Americas. Blooming Barrier by Lucy Holland presents goblet cells inside the gut of a child with Hirschsprung's disease, offering insight into how cell structures influence lifelong digestive health. From Butterflies to Humans by Amaia Alcalde Anton reveals the brain of a butterfly mid-metamorphosis, part of a study into neurogenesis with implications for human brain development. In addition to the Top 25 entries, the exhibition also features Things We Left Unseen , a youth-led photography project developed by Cape Town-based public health organisation Eh!woza. Created in collaboration with young people in the township of Khayelitsha, the project explores health, stigma, and daily life through the eyes of a generation growing up with high HIV and TB burdens, but also with hope and agency. The exhibition is hosted at the Francis Crick Institute, reflecting a shared commitment to making science more visible through culture. Ali Bailey, Director of Communications and Public Engagement at the Francis Crick Institute, said: ' We are delighted to host the top images from the Wellcome Photography Prize, showcasing the power of visual storytelling in health and science. The images explore a number of themes that resonate with Crick research, from the health effects of air pollution to neurogenesis. We hope visitors will be moved by the stories behind these incredible photos and also inspired by how beautiful science can be.' Notes to Editors: Media Contacts Sophie Balfour-LynnSutton [email protected] Mary-Kate FindonWellcome [email protected] Winners' Biographies Sujata Setia (Storytelling Series) Sujata Setia is an Indian-born, UK-based artist who's socially engaged, research-led practice combines photography with traditional artistic interventions to explore subaltern histories, cultural imperialism, and the politics of representation. With a background in journalism and a Master's in International Relations from King's College London, her work draws on academic research and community collaboration to centre marginalised voices, particularly through a feminist lens. Her acclaimed series Changing the Conversation marked a shift away from her earlier portraiture, interrogating the cultural and political construction of beauty. In 2024, she was awarded the Culture King's Grant to develop a lens-based, interdisciplinary project exploring the role of workplace structures for embroidery women artisans in Kashmir. She also recently received the Centre for British Photography Realisation Grant to further expand the scope of A Thousand Cuts , a powerful body of work amplifying the voices of survivors of gender-based abuse. Setia's work has received major international recognition, including the Sony World Photography Award (Creative category, 2024), LensCulture Critics' Choice Award (2024), Prix Pictet nomination (2023), BJP Female in Focus (2022), and Photographer of the Year at the Tokyo International Foto Awards (2021). Her photography has been exhibited widely—from Somerset House in London to Times Square in New York—and featured in leading publications including The Guardian , CNN , BBC , and Forbes . Beyond her visual practice, Setia contributes to education and advocacy through teaching ethical storytelling and photography at EFTI in Madrid, and through collaborations with organisations such as SHEWISE and WERESTART in the UK. Her work consistently seeks to reshape public narratives around identity, power, and care through interdisciplinary, justice-focused art. Mithail Afrige Chowdhury (Striking Solo Photography) Mithail Afrige Chowdhury is a documentary and street photographer based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Raised in the city of Khulna, his photography is deeply rooted in the lives of ordinary people. 'Since then, I have always tried to understand people's lives—their pain, joy, and the complexities shaped by social, economic, political, and environmental changes.' He began photography in 2015 and chose to document what he knew best: life around him. His work has captured the Rohingya refugee crisis , the effects of climate change on Bangladesh (an ongoing project), major festivals, urban water crises, slum fires, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Mithail has won numerous international photography awards, including the Life Press Photo Award (Ukraine), Xposure International Photography Competition (UAE), Compass Photo Competition by the University of Oxford (UK), and contests in China. His work has been featured in The Guardian , The Daily Sun , The Times of India , Global Photography , and publications from the University of Oxford , ASCE , and Saturday Magazine . Steve Gschmeissner (The Marvels of Medical and Scientific Imaging) Steve Gschmeissner is a UK-based photographer and electron microscopy specialist whose career spans over four decades in scientific imaging. After earning a degree in Zoology, he spent 25 years at the Royal College of Surgeons, eventually leading the electron microscopy services, followed by 15 years leading the EM unit at Cancer Research UK. In 2002, Gschmeissner retired early to dedicate himself to freelance photography, specialising in Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Over the past two decades, he has built an archive of more than 10,000 images, widely published across scientific, medical, and popular media. His work has featured in everything from textbooks and advertising to art, fashion, and music, appearing on album covers for Peter Gabriel, artworks by Damien Hirst, on US Postal Service stamps, and as visual inspiration for an Iris van Herpen's fashion collection. In 2021, he was awarded the Lennart Nilsson Award for his lifelong contribution to microscopy. His images continue to bridge the worlds of science and visual culture, offering new ways of seeing the invisible. Full list of Finalists – Top 25 Entries Striking solo photography Searching for Life – Sandipani Chattopadhyay (India) Urban Travel – Mithail Afrige Chowdhury (Bangladesh) Marks of Majesty: Vanessa – Julia Comita & Stephanie Francis (USA) Musa – Marijn Fidder (Uganda/Netherlands) The Light Will Come – Dora Grivopoulou (Greece) Cricket is My Emotion – Ziaul Huque (Bangladesh) Pie-by-Sam – Reatile Moalusi (South Africa) Beautiful Disaster – Alexandru Radu Popescu (Romania) Resilience Artist – Pyaephyo Thetpaing (Myanmar) Stereo EEG Self-Portrait – Muir Vidler (UK) Transparent Curtains – Oded Wagenstein (Israel) Self, Five Years On – Georgie Wileman (UK) A storytelling series The Loss Mother's Stone – Nancy Borowick (US Virgin Islands) A Dream to Cure Water – Ciril Jazbec (UK) Nemo's Garden – Giacomo d'Orlando (Italy) A Thousand Cuts – Sujata Setia (UK) I Spend 150 Hours Alone Each Week – Madeleine Waller (Australia/UK) The marvels of scientific and medical imaging From Butterflies to Humans – Amaia Alcalde Anton (UK) Ice and Fire Chronics: The Chagas Disease Invader – Ingrid Augusto, Kildare Rocha de Miranda & Vânia da Silva Vieira (Brazil) Cholesterol in the Liver – Steve Gschmeissner (UK) Blooming Barrier – Lucy Holland (UK) Submarine Fever – Jander Matos & Joaquim Nascimento (Brazil) Organoids – Oliver Meckes & Nicole Ottawa, Eye of Science (Germany) I've Got You, Under My Skin: Microplastics in Mammalian Tissue – P. Stephen Patrick & Olumide Ogunlade (UK) Brixton Road, Lambeth – Marina Vitaglione (France/UK) Exhibition Details Wellcome Photography Prize 2025 exhibition is curated by Laurie Britton Newell and Ligaya SalazarAt the Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, London, NW1 1AT17 July – 18 October 2025Open Wednesdays to Saturdays, 10am-4pm (Wednesdays until 8pm) Admission free About Wellcome Wellcome supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. We support discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, and we're taking on three worldwide health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate and health. Follow the prize: Instagram: @wellcomephotoprize Wellcome Photography Prize 2025 | Wellcome About the Francis Crick Institute We are delighted that the Crick are hosting this year's Wellcome Photography Prize exhibition. The Francis Crick Institute is a biomedical discovery institute with the mission of understanding the fundamental biology underlying health and disease. Its work helps improve our understanding of why disease develops which promotes discoveries into new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat disease. An independent organisation, its founding partners are the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, UCL (University College London), Imperial College London and King's College London. The Crick was formed in 2015, and in 2016 it moved into a brand new state-of-the-art building in central London which brings together 1500 scientists and support staff working collaboratively across disciplines, making it the biggest biomedical research facility under a single roof in Europe. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with GlobeNewswire. 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