Congratulations to 4th-year grad student Amanda Ruiz on being awarded a 2021 HHMI Gilliam Fellowship!

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) announced 50 new Gilliam fellowships awarded to graduate students conducting outstanding research in their respective scientific fields and their advisers, who are committed to building a more inclusive scientific ecosystem. For up to three years, each adviser-student pair will receive an annual award totaling $50,000.  The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has selected the 2021 class of Gilliam adviser-student pairs as part of a program to advance diversity and inclusion in science.

Amanda is a degree candidate in the Jake Kurtis lab, and was pleased to share that "through the Fellowship, Dr. Kurtis and I will be working alongside Dr. Jessica Plavicki to revamp the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine's Summer Research Internship, which brings local high school students from underrepresented backgrounds to Brown for an immersive 6-week experience in translational and basic science research, to sponsor near-peer graduate student mentors for the high school students​".​

For additional information and to see a full list of HHMI Gilliam fellowship recipients, please visit the Institute’s website.