Fellowships

As early career faculty, I have received a range of fellowships that support innovative teaching, public-facing scholarship, and interdisciplinary research. My fellowships have included curriculum development and instructional design in biology, neuroscience, and research.

2025

• Butler Williams Scholar Program Cohort - The Butler-Williams Scholars Program provides unique opportunities for junior faculty, researchers who are new to the field of aging, and postdoctoral fellows to gain insight about aging research. The program offers a variety of perspectives and includes presentations, seminars, and interactive small group activities and discussions. 

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• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Early Career Researcb Fellow (2025-2027) - The Early-Career Research Fellowships program supports emerging scientific leaders as they take on untested research ideas, pursue unique collaborations, and build a network of colleagues who share their interest in advancing the safety of the offshore energy system and improving the well-being of coastal communities and ecosystems.

  • Track: Human Health and Community Resilience

  • The seven fellows joining the Human Health and Community Resilience Track will contribute to the understanding of the role that resilience-based interventions play in addressing the root causes of climate, disaster, and health vulnerability associated with disparities in communities throughout the Gulf of Mexico region 

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• Open Education Research Fellow - The Open Education Group thanks to generous support from the Hewlett Foundation provides support for early career researchers to conduct studies in open education through the open education research fellowship. Fellows receive mentorship, travel funds to attend Open Education, article publishing costs, and financial support for submitting manuscripts of studies to peer reviewed journals.

  • Link: https://openedgroup.org/fellows/

• BUILD Grant Writing Fellowship - This fellowship sponsored by XULA Build and recommended by Dr. Michelle Boissiere is to help early career researchers in the process of building a competitive NIH Grant

  • Output: NIH SuRE FIRST R16 (Fall 2025 Submission)

• Black Men Brain Health Emerging Scholar - The BMBH Emerging Scholars Program supports a group of early and mid-career investigators examining brain aging among Black men.

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  • Output: Research proposal submitted to the Framingham Heart Study (Approved 4/2025)

    • Proposal Title: The Role of Systemic Inflammation in the Interplay Between Cardiovascular Health and Cognitive Decline

2024

• Clean Energy Faculty Learning Committee Fellowship - The focus of this internal funding program is to develop curricula that supports student learning and engagement within areas related to clean energy and environmental sustainability. Therefore, this funding program will support (1) substantive changes to existing courses and/or (2) new courses that adopt meaningful learning experiences that focus on topics related to clean energy and environmental sustainability

  • Output - Determinants of Health: Public Health and Biological Implications of Clean Energy and Sustainability Module

• Nature Breast Cancer: Rising Scholar -  The Nature Breast Cancer: Rising Scholar Award is a prestigious honor that recognizes early-career investigators making significant contributions to the field of breast cancer research. This competitive award is conferred by the editorial board of Nature Breast Cancer, a high-impact, peer-reviewed journal under the Nature Portfolio, and serves to highlight promising scientists whose innovative work is shaping the future of breast cancer biology, diagnostics, and therapeutics. Receiving this award signifies national and international recognition of scholarly excellence, scientific creativity, and potential for continued leadership in breast cancer research. As part of the award, recipients are spotlighted through Nature’s platforms, which enhances visibility and fosters collaboration with other leading experts in oncology and biomedical science. For tenure consideration, this distinction affirms the candidate’s emerging influence in translational cancer research and underscores their commitment to addressing critical health disparities and improving patient outcomes. It reflects a strong trajectory of independent research, peer recognition, and institutional prestige, aligning with the criteria of research excellence and scholarly impact essential for tenure and promotion.

• BUILD Grant Writing Fellowship - This fellowship sponsored by XULA Build and recommended by Dr. Michelle Boissiere is to help early career researchers in the process of building a competitive NIH Grant

  • Output: LBRN 2024 Start-Up Grant (Awarded)

• A Studio in the Woods Writing Retreat Fellowship - Hosted by A Studio in the Woods in New Orleans, this faculty writing retreat offers scholars a dedicated space for focused research and reflection. In December 2024, I spent a week immersed in writing and revision.

  • Output: Grant Submission to LBRN Pilot 2024 Award (Awaiting Decision)

• Faculty Communities of Teaching Scholars Human Learning in an AI World - The Faculty Communities of Teaching Scholars (FaCTS) initiative, historically funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, supports faculty in developing innovative pedagogy. In 2024, the final FaCTS cohort focused on the theme “Human Learning in an AI World.” As part of this fellowship, I developed a project entitled "Biomodelings in A Genetics Cure Course."

• • Output: I have now included an AI policy in the syllabus for BIOL 3110L (Genetics Lab). Two projects (now in the beginning of the course) have been added to the beginning of the course. Students will use AI/bioinformatics tool to create a prediction of their mutant alleles to assist with the generation of a hypothesis for their research project. AI will then use as an inspiration to build the framework of introduction of the final report.