Winners of inaugural Distinguished Young Alumni Awards announced

Randolph recognized three outstanding graduates with a new honor, the Distinguished Young Alumni Award, in September. 

The 2024 inaugural winners are Brittany Dickey van Staalduinen ’10, Priyanka Uprety ’10, and Youssef Elkei ’13.

Brittany Dickey van Staalduinen ’10

Van Staalduinen is an award-winning OB-GYN and surgeon at Kaiser Permanente, which is nationally ranked for excellence in maternity care. She is also a clinical instructor affiliated with the Stanford University School of Medicine and a senior associate dean for medical student education. 

Van Staalduinen graduated from the College with degrees in biology and dance and earned her medical degree from the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine. 

She has also served as chief resident of the Richmond University Medical Center’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and worked in a private practice, both in New York. She became board certified and a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2021. 

In addition to her work, van Staalduinen regularly volunteers in her California community and beyond. Her volunteer work includes a medical mission trip to Honduras focused on women’s health and well visits. 

She also continues to dance and is currently teaching elementary age students in the Bay Area. 

Priyanka Uprety ’10

Uprety, technical director in clinical microbiology at Quest Diagnostics, is passionate about improving access to healthcare, particularly by improving diagnostic services in resource-limited settings. 

She majored in biology at the College and also earned a PhD in molecular microbiology and immunology from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 

Before joining Quest Diagnostics earlier this year, she led the research and development team in the infectious disease division of Becton, Dickinson & Company, a medical technology company. 

She has also worked as a research laboratory technician with the Mayo Clinic, acting director of the Baltimore City Public Health Laboratory, associate director of the Infectious Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and associate director of clinical microbiology and laboratory at New Jersey Medical School. 

Youssef Elkei ’13

Elkei, a global studies major who earned his master of science in foreign service from Georgetown University, has gone from the Red Brick Wall to the West Wing of the White House.

After being selected for the prestigious Pickering Foreign Affairs Graduate Fellowship and graduating with distinction from Georgetown, Elkei joined the U.S. Foreign Service and was posted abroad for four years.  

He served as a consular officer in the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, then as an environment, science, and technology officer representing the United States at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. 

He returned to Washington, D.C., in 2022 to serve as a special assistant to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, where he staffed and traveled with Blinken and senior staff on domestic and international travel.    

Now, as a duty officer at the White House Situation Room, Elkei works on global situational awareness, executive communication, and interagency coordination. His role often finds him briefing top U.S. officials, including the President, Vice President, and National Security Advisor, among others.