Nupur Dinesh Thekdi was a fifth-year student of the combined M.D./Ph.D. program at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine when he died accidently in 2001. The award is intended to recognize excellence in research by a student enrolled in the M.D., Ph.D., or M.D./Ph.D. program in the School of Medicine, and was established in 2001 by generous donations from family and friends. It was endowed in 2004.