Summary
Fifty-one graduate students and their advisors are joining the thriving community supported by HHMI Gilliam Scholarships for advanced study.
At the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the last few days of July have become synonymous with one of the Institute’s most popular announcements, what some call “Gilliam Day.” It’s the day a group of graduate students and their advisors from universities across the country join the thriving community supported by HHMI Gilliam Scholarships for advanced study.
Today, HHMI announces the largest group of Gilliam Fellows: 51 graduate students conducting outstanding research in their respective scientific fields and their advisors who are committed to building a more inclusive scientific ecosystem. Each advisor-student pair will receive an annual award totaling $53,000 for up to three years.
the Gilliam Program invests in graduate students from populations historically excluded and underrepresented in science so they are prepared to become scientific leaders. “To support the development of these students as future scientific leaders, providing high-quality mentoring, financial support, an inclusive lab environment, and a supportive community is crucial,” says David Asai, senior director of science education. “Real change will not happen on campus without the support and commitment of faculty and institutional leaders,” says Asai.
HHMI recognizes that Gilliam Fellows advisors play an important role in helping students reach their high potential. Since 2015, more than 200 Gilliam advisors have successfully completed a year-long course in culturally aware mentoring, developed and led by the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER). Through CIMER’s mentor development course, advisors participate in activities that emphasize cultural awareness, including monthly interactive online webinars and two face-to-face workshops. The activities help advisors learn how to listen and interact with their students. These efforts are paying off: Mentors report significant advances in their understanding and practice of culturally aware mentoring, according to a recently published article by Pfund et al. In the diary CBE-Life Sciences Education.
Now, HHMI and CIMER have partnered to create the Scientific Mentoring Initiative that design and offer mentoring development opportunities to all HHMI scientists, including investigators, Janelia Research Campus group leaders, Hanna Gray Fellows, and recipients of the recently announced Freeman Hrabowski Fellowship program. By encouraging scientists to learn how to be better mentors, the Gilliam Program aims to make the academic environment more inclusive for students to see themselves in science.
Eventually, Asai hopes these intertwined efforts will help increase the diversity of scientists at the faculty level. “Diversity in science should be the norm,” she says. “We should expect to see talented students and scientists from underrepresented groups on college campuses and across science.”
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HHMI created the Gilliam Scholarships for Advanced Study in 2004 in honor of the late James H. Gilliam, Jr. A founding Trustee of HHMI, Gilliam was a respected business and civic leader who spent his life fostering excellence and diversity in science and education.
Gilliam Fellows and Advisors 2022
karim abdelaal
duke university
Thesis advisor: Kafui Dzirasa
jackson adams
University of California, Berkeley
Thesis advisor: Markita Landry
Joseph Aguilera
brown university
Thesis advisor: Erica Larschan
Ifeh Akano
Medicine Weill Cornell
Thesis advisor: Yael David
Aura Alonso-Rodriguez
University of Vermont
Thesis advisor: Taylor Ricketts
Natasha Baas Thomas
Brandeis University
Thesis advisor: Donald Katz
Laymon Ball
Louisiana State University
Thesis Advisor: Laura Lagomarsino
Myles Bartholomew
brown university
Thesis advisor: Richard Freiman
Albit cabin
boston university
Thesis advisor: Steve Ramírez
Jose Campos Duran
University of Pennsylvania
Thesis advisor: Sarah Henrickson
alexis carey
Johns Hopkins University
Thesis advisor: Ashani Weeraratna
Jesus Castor-Macias
University of Michigan
Thesis Director: Carlos Aguilar
lenny castro
University of California, San Diego
Thesis advisor: Matthew Daugherty
Carlene Chinn
University of California, Irvine
Thesis Director: Marcelo Wood
Elaida Dimwamwa
Georgia Institute of Technology
Thesis advisor: Garrett Stanley
ryan elbashir
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Thesis advisor: Matthew Vander Heiden
Yesenia Garcia
Emory University
Thesis advisor: Shannon Gourley
melanie gil
Vanderbilt University
Thesis advisor: Vivian Gama
Tania Gonzalez-Robles
New York University Grossman School of Medicine
Thesis advisor: Kelly Ruggles
billie goolsby
Stanford University
Thesis advisor: Lauren O’Connell
Ayress Grinage
Cornell University
Thesis advisor: Chelsea Specht
Miguel Saved
University of California, San Francisco
Thesis advisor: Ryan Hernandez
nadia holness
University of Virginia School of Medicine
Thesis advisor: Sarah Ewald
yanabah-jaques
University of California, Berkeley
Thesis advisor: Daniela Kaufer
jarildy javier
Emory University
Thesis advisors: Larry Young and Malavika Murugan
Jessica Jones
University of Washington
Thesis advisor: John Tuthill
krisangel lopez
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Thesis director: Albert Auguste
Maya Lopez-Ichikawa
University of California, San Francisco
Thesis advisor: Matthew Spitzer
Peter Lotfy
Harvard Medical School
Thesis Director: Jose Ordovas-Montanes
Ricardo Lozoya
University of California, San Diego
Thesis advisor: Richard Daneman
kimberly lucasik
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Thesis advisor: Stephanie Gupton
Ahmed Mahmoud
Medicine Weill Cornell
Thesis advisor: Karuna Ganesh
vanessa marshal
University of California, Santa Cruz
Thesis advisors: Fitnat Yildiz and Seth Rubin
Reo Maynard
University of California, Merced
Thesis advisor: Gordon Bennett
Daniel Mendez
University of Minnesota School of Medicine
Thesis advisors: Thomas Bastian and Michael Georgieff
Katherine Morillo
Princeton University
Thesis advisor: Coleen Murphy
lauren neal
The Rockefeller University
Thesis advisor: Leslie Vosshall
Katya child
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Thesis advisor: Eric Pietras
Maria Ortiz-Juza
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Thesis director: José Rodríguez-Romaguera
Alexander Walls
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Thesis advisor: Aaron Smith
Leila May Pascual
Emory University
Thesis advisor: Sam Sober
Zeena Rivera
University of California, Los Angeles
Thesis directors: Alicia Izquierdo and Andrew Wikenheiser
cristina rivera quiles
michigan state university
Thesis advisor: Michelle Mazei-Robison
Leeza Santiago Millan
Harvard Medical School
Thesis advisor: Fred Winston
Franklin Staback Rodriguez
University of Pennsylvania
Thesis advisor: Janis Burkhardt
eric stoke
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Thesis advisor: Jason Aoto
Hector Torres-Vera
University of California, Berkeley
Thesis advisor: Alanna Schepartz
axel vera
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Thesis advisor: Ronald Raines
jillian walton
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Thesis advisor: Alison Buchan
Franceina Welcome
Stony Brook University
Thesis advisor: Michael Airola
mayan wool people
Harvard University
Thesis advisor: Hopi Hoekstra