HHMI has selected nine students to receive the 2012 Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study.

Established in 2004, the fellowship program is designed to promote excellence and diversity in science and education. The Gilliam fellows, who are from groups underrepresented in the sciences or from disadvantaged backgrounds, will receive financial support for up to five years of study toward a doctoral degree.

“These students share a passion and aptitude for research that has been shaped by their unique backgrounds and experience. That diversity of perspectives is crucial for the growth of the scientific community,” says Sean B. Carroll, HHMI’s vice president for science education.

Gilliam fellows are selected from among students who have participated in HHMI’s Exceptional Research Opportunities Program, which places undergraduates from underrepresented groups in the labs of HHMI investigators and professors. Eight of this year’s Gilliam fellows are applying to Ph.D. or M.D., Ph.D. programs, and one student is in his first year of a Ph.D. program at Baylor College of Medicine. Each fellow will receive $46,500 a year to apply toward graduate studies.

The recipients of the 2012 Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study and their undergraduate institutions are:

• Robert Amezquita - University of California-San Diego

• Daniel Garcia - Harvey Mudd College

• Deric Griffin - Louisiana State University & A&M College; Graduate School - Baylor College of Medicine

• Tien-Phat Huynh - University of California, Los Angeles

• Lauren Rodriguez - University of California-Santa Cruz

• Kailan Sierra-Davidson - Harvard University

• Hugo Vega-Ramirez - University of California-Davis

• Robert Wardlow - University of Maryland Baltimore County

• Martha Zepeda Rivera - University of Washington

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