Three Indian Americans Among 36 Marshall Scholars Heading to the U.K. For Graduate Studies

Three Indian Americans — Tej Patel, Pratyush Seshadri and Sridatta Teerdhala — are among 36 winners of the 2025 Marshall Scholarship, which finance young Americans of high ability to study for a degree in the United Kingdom. Named for former U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall, the scholarship program was established in 1953 as a gesture of gratitude to the American people for the assistance offered to the U.K. after World War II under the Marshall Plan.

Tej Patel is studying molecular biology, healthcare management & policy, and statistics through the Life Sciences and Management (LSM) Program at the University of Pennsylvania. “Inspired by his experiences as an advocate and volunteer, he seeks to make healthcare systems more equitable and cost-effective,” according to his Marshall profile. His research has been published in several medical journals, and focuses on health economics, radiation oncology, and human-algorithm collaboration in clinical care. 

Patel is co-founder of Social Equity Action Lab, a youth-led think tank that brings together students, institutional partners, and policy makers across the country to inform legislation on key issues such as America’s mental health crisis, value-based payment reform, and healthcare decarbonization. On campus, he is the director of the Locust Bioventures group, director for the LSM Netter Center Pipeline Program, and policy committee leader for the Shelter Health Outreach Program. 

A 2024 Truman Scholar, Patel has also interned with the Mongan Institute for Health Policy and Institute for Healthcare Improvement, working on projects covering Medicare Part D policy and alternative payment models. Following graduation, he intends to pursue an MD/MPP and leverage insights from medicine and policy to improve nationwide care delivery.

Sridatta Teerdhala is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania in the Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management, pursuing a dual degree in biology and economics. Marshall Foundation says the “only son of Indian immigrants, he has become an advocate for healthcare access and innovation, combining his passion for science and business to address pressing medical challenges..”

At the University of Pennsylvania, he is an undergraduate researcher in the Mitchell Lab, developing novel lipid nanoparticle technologies for aƯordable cancer immunotherapies, which have led to publications. He also works for the Chan Lab at UT Southwestern, contributing to the commercialization of breast cancer immunotherapies, while providing strategic consulting to healthcare startups through Wharton Snider Consulting. 

Teerdhala co-founded Penn Hoops4Hope, a club that supports a basketball league for homeless shelters, integrating healthcare and career development initiatives for participants. As a coordinator for the Penn Medicine Educational Pipeline Program, he mentors underrepresented high school students in West Philadelphia, introducing them to the world of biotech and connecting them with internships and research opportunities. He also volunteers at the Philadelphia Veteran AƯairs Medical Center and the Penn Center for Surgical Health, where he supports patients navigating their healthcare journeys. 

Beyond his academic and professional endeavors, Teerdhala is writing a historical fiction novel set in the Mahajanapadas period of ancient India. 

As a Marshall Scholar, Teerdhala will spend his first year at the University of Cambridge pursuing an MPhil in Medical Science.  After a year at Cambridge, he intends to spend a year at the London School of Economics and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, pursuing an MSc in Health Policy, Planning, and Financing to learn how to translate innovative cancer diagnostics and treatments to low- and middle-income countries. 

Pratyush Seshadri is a student at University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, pursuing a Bachelors of Science in economics and mathematics, with a minor in history. He has completed internships conducting macroeconomic research and working in logistical supply chain in Nairobi, Kenya, and Johannesburg, South Africa, respectively. 

He is actively involved in UNC’s Men’s Varsity Squash team and played for University of Oxford’s Men’s Varsity Soccer and Basketball Team, as a visiting student. He has found a passion for stand-up comedy, and has performed in London, New York, and Raleigh. 

He intends to attain an MPhil in Economics at the University of Oxford to then move on to pursue a position with a global financial institution to provide resources to vulnerable nations to develop climate resiliency. 

(Top photo: Pratyush Seshadri, a senior at University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, pursuing a Bachelors of Science in economics and mathematics, with a minor in history.)