Johns Hopkins postdoctoral fellow Anicca Harriot has been named a recipient of the 2026 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Community Service. Harriot, who conducts research in the lab of biomedical engineering Professor Deok-Ho Kim, is one of 11 individuals across the institution recognized this year for their profound commitment to Dr. King’s values of service and selflessness.
The award was presented during the 44th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration, held January 16 at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
As the CEO of VanguardSTEM, a volunteer-led nonprofit, Harriot has spent nearly a decade building a supportive community for women, girls, and nonbinary people of color in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
One of her most significant achievements includes spearheading the “Hot Science Summer” initiative, which distributed $50,000 in grants to help scientists pursue independent research projects. For Harriot, the work is personal: she describes VanguardSTEM as a space where individuals can be their “full selves with no reservations,” fostering a sense of belonging that is often missing in traditional STEM environments.
Her passion for advocacy and prominent influence as a science communicator has also led her to being recognized as one of Motherboard’s 2017 Humans of the Year, a 2017 Young Futurist for The Root, and as a 2020 President’s Fellow at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
In her research at the Kim Lab, Harriot works to pioneer “clinical trial-on-a-chip” technology. She focuses on developing 3D engineered muscular tissues (EMTs) that serve as realistic models for complex conditions—including muscular dystrophy (DMD), the effects of aging, and the physiological toll of spaceflight. These platforms provide a safe and effective way to test the efficacy of novel treatments before they ever reach a human patient.
Harriot earned her PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine.
Image Caption: (From left) Ted DeWeese, dean of Johns Hopkins Medicine; Anicca Harriot; and Kevin Sowers, president of Johns Hopkins Health Systems, at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration.