Each July, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute welcomes dozens of graduate students and their advisers into a close-knit community of scientists committed to advancing equity and inclusion. Known as “Gilliam Day,” this annual celebration follows HHMI’s announcement of the newest cohort supported by the Gilliam Fellows Program.
Today, in keeping with this tradition, HHMI congratulates 50 graduate students and their advisers who have been named Gilliam Fellows in recognition of outstanding research in their respective scientific fields and their commitment to building a more inclusive scientific ecosystem. Each student-adviser pair will receive an annual award totaling $53,000 for up to three years.
The Gilliam Fellows Program invests in graduate students and their advisers who embody leadership in science and are committed to advancing equity and inclusion in science. “The Gilliam Fellowship not only supports incredibly talented graduate students who are poised to become future leaders in science,” says Joshua Hall, senior program officer for the Gilliam Fellows Program, “but it also engages thesis advisers and institutions in the work of creating training environments in which all students can thrive.”
The Gilliam community now totals 451 outstanding scientists, tracing back to the program’s launch in 2004. This year’s cohort hails from 37 institutions across the country, including eight institutions receiving their first-ever Gilliam Fellowship award. At these first-time awardee institutions, Gilliam Fellows are working to address key questions in science and human health, including how health disparities impact cancer outcomes and how air pollutants affect the health of high school-aged children.
HHMI’s Gilliam Fellows Program recognizes that advisers play an integral role in helping their students realize their high potential. For this reason, Gilliam advisers participate in a year-long mentorship development course led by Facilitator-Scholars from HHMI’s Scientific Mentorship Initiative. This learning experience includes monthly online interactive webinars and two in-person workshops at HHMI headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland – all of which are designed to teach advisers how to listen and engage across cultures.
“By offering professional development to mentors and supporting the growing Gilliam community, HHMI is working to create lasting change across campuses and throughout the wider scientific community,” says Blanton Tolbert, vice president of HHMI’s Center for the Advancement of Science Leadership and Culture (CASLC), which was established last year.
CASLC houses the Gilliam Fellows Program as well as other HHMI undergraduate- and graduate-level programs designed to bring together academic faculty, administrators, and students working to transform the experience of science education.
“Gilliam Fellows join a diverse and supportive community of scientific leaders who are working to forge new pathways to empower others to achieve personal success,” Tolbert says. “In this way, the program reflects what should be the norm across all of science: today’s students should expect to see leaders from all different backgrounds and experiences, reflecting true equity and inclusion in science.”
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HHMI created the Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study, now called the Gilliam Fellows Program, in 2004 in honor of the late James H. Gilliam, Jr. A charter Trustee of HHMI, Gilliam was a respected business and civic leader who spent his life nurturing excellence and diversity in science and education.
2023 Gilliam Fellows and Advisers
Ngozi Akingbesote
Yale University
Thesis Adviser: Rachel Perry
Nana Yaa Amoh
Harvard Medical School
Thesis Adviser: Raul Mostoslavsky
Destinee Aponte
Harvard Medical School
Thesis Adviser: Christopher Harvey
Deronisha Arceneaux
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Thesis Adviser: Ken Lau
Montserrat Arreguin
University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and Health System
Thesis Adviser: Kellie Jurado
Oscar Arroyo
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Thesis Adviser: Daniel McKay
Maria Ayala
University of California, Davis
Thesis Adviser: James Letts
Aleah Bailey
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
Thesis Adviser: Ilona Jaspers
Mayra Banuelos
Brown University
Thesis Adviser: Emilia Huerta-Sanchez
Kimberly Bennett
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Thesis Advisers: Paula Hammond, Joelle Straehla
Olubusayo Bolonduro
The University of Chicago
Thesis Adviser: Andrew Koh
Marcy Cage
University of South Alabama
Thesis Advisers: Thomas Rich, Troy Stevens
Christopher Cousins
Oregon State University
Thesis Adviser: Tiffany Garcia
Alexander Cruz
Cornell University
Thesis Adviser: Jonathan Butcher
Kimberlyn Ellis
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Thesis Adviser: Lea Davis
Irving Estevez
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Thesis Adviser: Brian Daniels
Abigail Fielder
Wayne State University
Thesis Adviser: Kristen Purrington
Benjamin Garcia
University of New Mexico
Thesis Adviser: Irene Salinas
Roy Garcia
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Thesis Adviser: Maralice Conacci Sorrell
Synphane Gibbs-Shelton
University of Virginia
Thesis Adviser: Ukpong Eyo
Taylor Hailstock
Emory University
Thesis Adviser: Dorothy Lerit
Colin Howe
Pennsylvania State University
Thesis Adviser: Monica Medina
Patricia Hoyos
Princeton University
Thesis Advisers: Jesse Gomez, Sabine Kastner
Rachael Kramp
University of Pittsburgh
Thesis Adviser: Jessica Stephenson
Crystal Lara Santos
University of Pittsburgh
Thesis Adviser: Anne Carlson
Donald Long
Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine
Thesis Adviser: Praveen Sethupathy
Ryan Martinez
University of Wisconsin
Thesis Adviser: Jacob Brunkard
Patricia Mendez
University of California, Los Angeles
Thesis Adviser: Elissa Hallem
Kyndall Nicholas
University of Pennsylvania
Thesis Adviser: D. Kacy Cullen
Megan Onyundo
University of California, Berkeley
Thesis Adviser: Rebecca Heald
Monica Paniagua Montoya
Florida State University
Thesis Advisers: Nora Underwood, Brian Inouye
Alyssa Paparella
Baylor College of Medicine
Thesis Advisers: Cheryl Walker, Nicolas Young
Eleana Parajón
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Thesis Adviser: Douglas Robinson
Yoselin Paucar Iza
Weill Cornell Medicine
Thesis Adviser: Chrysothemis Brown
Autumn Peterson
Georgia Institute of Technology
Thesis Adviser: William Ratcliff
Bonita Powell
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Thesis Adviser: Mollie Meffert
April Pruitt
Yale University
Thesis Advisers: Ellen Hoffman, Kristen Brennand
Jesús Romero-Pichardo
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Thesis Adviser: Justin Perry
Rio Salazar
The University of Chicago
Thesis Adviser: Robert Carrillo
Andrea Sama
University of California, San Diego
Thesis Adviser: Alexandra Dickinson
Yamil Sanchez-Rosario
University of Arizona
Thesis Adviser: Michael Johnson
Yessica Santana Agreda
Oregon Health & Science University
Thesis Adviser: Kevin Wright
Karina Silvestre Bringas
University of Idaho
Thesis Adviser: Chris Hamilton
Susana Simmonds Bohorquez
University of Washington
Thesis Adviser: Kelly Stevens
Kiandra Smith
Morehouse School of Medicine
Thesis Adviser: Jason DeBruyne
Anaïs Tsai
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Thesis Adviser: Ruth Lehmann
Viviana Valentín Valentín
Emory University
Thesis Adviser: Shannon Gourley
Layla Vasquez
University of Southern California
Thesis Adviser: Brian Dias
Isaac Wakiro
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Thesis Adviser: Michael Kharas
Alma Zuniga Munoz
University of Southern California
Thesis Adviser: Albert Almada