Penn Fourth-Year Annabelle Jin Named 2025-26 Luce Scholar
by Penn Today
Funded Projects, Alumni, Partner Institutions, Americas, Education, Human Rights & Justice, Livelihoods, Youth

This announcement was originally published by the
, a University of Pennsylvania fourth-year student in the , is one of selected by the to be a 2025-26 . During the 13-month fellowship in Asia, Scholars receive stipends, language training, and an individualized professional placement that aligns with their interests.
Established in 1974, the Luce Scholars Program is a competitive leadership-development fellowship that provides immersive professional experiences in Asia. Its goal is to strengthen relationships across borders by offering opportunities for the Scholars to “deepen their understanding of Asia’s countries, cultures, and people” and “expand their perspectives, strengthen their leadership, and build bridges across cultures.”
Jin, from Moorestown, New Jersey, is majoring in biology with a concentration in neurobiology and minoring in English and chemistry. As co-founder and education committee lead for the student group, she is interested in educating students about menstrual health. Jin spearheaded the group’s Menstrual Health Education Program in West Philadelphia middle and high schools.
She co-founded , a nonprofit funded by Davis Projects for Peace that trains high school students to become reproductive health leaders in their own communities. Jin also organized educational events about reproductive health at Penn and was lead organizer for , which explored themes from intersectionality and activism to entrepreneurship and health care.
Beyond reproductive health, Jin listens to patient stories while providing free blood pressure screenings at food kitchens and creates interactive play activities for pediatric cancer patients at the (CHOP). She conducts pulmonary development research at the at CHOP, where she leads her independent project investigating the role of the epigenetic reader BRD4 in lung morphology, with implications for treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.
Jin is a , a 2022 , a 2022 , and a 2023 . She plans to become an adolescent-medicine physician to combine her interests in reproductive justice and medicine.
Jin is the 19th Penn affiliate to be named a Luce Scholar. The serves as Penn’s primary information hub and support office for students and alumni applying for major grants and fellowships.