The Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) relies upon a talented and experienced team of Principal Facilitators to facilitate our workshops and work with our institutional clients.
Lori Adams, PhD (University of Iowa)
Lori Adams, PhD serves as both a Lecturer and Program Director at the University of Iowa (UI) where she directs several undergraduate research programs, is the instructor-designer for numerous STEM focused student development courses including an adaptation of “Entering Research”. Dr. Adams earned a BS in Crop Science from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, a PhD in Genetics from Texas A&M in College Station, TX, and was a post-doctoral research scientist at the Boyce Thompson Institute in Cornell and then later at University of Wisconsin-Madison. At the UI, Dr. Adams co-directs the NSF-funded LSAMP-IINSPIRE Alliance program as well as the NIH-funded Iowa Biosciences Academy (IBA) IMSD program whose mission is to increase the diversity of students earning PhDs in the Biosciences. Lastly, Dr. Adams is the Director of the Latham Science Engagement Initiative and is piloting a program that facilitates undergraduate interactions across STEM disciplines and challenges students to communicate the broader impact of scientific research to non-science audiences. Because her work revolves so heavily around undergraduates doing research in laboratories on campus, she has a strong interest in being a part of the movement to create a mentoring culture on campus. For the past three summers, she has implemented the 8-week “Entering Mentoring” summer seminar series for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty that are mentoring undergraduate researchers. Dr. Adams is recognized as a National Academies Education Mentor in the Life Sciences and a NIH National Research Mentoring Network Master Facilitator.
Email: lori-adams@uiowa.edu
Joseph Ayoob, PhD (University of Pittsburgh)
Dr. Ayoob is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computational and Systems Biology and the Faculty Fellow for the Center for Mentoring at the University of Pittsburgh. He also serves as an online mentor for the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN), has been named an NRMN Master Mentor, and is an NRMN Certified Facilitator of Entering Mentoring and Entering Research Training. Dr. Ayoob has over a decade of experience directing programs for the mentoring and training of graduate, undergraduate, and high school students, and since 2019, has been offering mentor and mentee training to the Pitt community and beyond.
Email: jayoob@pitt.edu
Diana Azurdia, PhD (University of California, Los Angeles)
Dr. Diana Azurdia serves as the Director for Recruitment and Inclusion for Graduate Programs in Bioscience (a consortium of seven PhD programs with over 800 students and faculty) at the University of California, Los Angeles. In this role, Dr. Azurdia leads the development and implementation of a strategic plan to enhance diversity in the biomedical graduate student population. She uses her platform as a National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) Master Facilitator to promote inclusive mentoring practices at her home institution where she is the principal investigator of the UCLA Entering Mentoring Training Program which provides mentor and mentee training to scientists at all career stages. Additionally, Dr. Azurdia works with the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Research Experiences (CIMER) to deliver research mentor training and facilitator training nationally. She earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from UCLA and graduated with a B.S. in Biochemistry from CSU Los Angeles. Dr. Azurdia is a first-generation Guatemalan-American and the first in her family to attend college. As the beneficiary of broadening participation programs, she believes that initiatives that promote access to STEM degrees are important for equal representation of all identities in science, the creation of innovations that serve all communities and income equity.
Email: dazurdia@mednet.ucla.edu
Bruce Birren, PhD (Broad Institute)
Bruce Birren is an Institute Scientist at the Broad Institute and Director of the Broad’s Genomic Center for Infectious Diseases. He founded the Broad’s Diversity Initiative and an institute-wide mentoring program. He facilitates workshops for faculty and trainees to increase the effectiveness of research mentoring relationships, with a focus on culturally aware mentoring. He also designs and leads workshops and longer-term interventions to help organizations promote a culture of inclusion. He works with the Scientific Mentorship Initiative of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and serves as a Master Facilitator for the National Research Mentoring Network and the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research.
Email: bwb@broadinstitute.org
Sherilynn Black, PhD (Duke University)
Sherilynn Black, PhD is the Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement at Duke University. She provides leadership in faculty advancement and development for pretenure, mid-career, and non-tenure system faculty. She has expertise in creating interventions to increase representation and equity among faculty and students across disciplines, and leads work nationally to catalyze systemic change in academia. Dr. Black is an Assistant Professor of the Practice of Medical Education and engages in social neuroscience research on the effectiveness of interventions to promote diversity and equity in academia. She served as the founding Director of the Office of Biomedical Graduate Diversity for Duke University School of Medicine and was a Principal Investigator of the NIH-IMSD funded Duke Biosciences Collaborative for Research Engagement (BioCoRE) Program. She holds national appointments with NIH, HHMI, AAMC, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, and the Society for Neuroscience. She currently serves on the Advisory Committee to the Director of NIH (Working Group on Diversity) and has won a number of distinctions, including the Samuel Debois Cook Society Award, the Deans Award for Inclusive Excellence in Graduate Education, and the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award. She was named one of Cell‘s ‘Most Inspiring Black Scientists in America’. Dr. Black earned her BS in Psychology and Biology with highest honors at UNC-Chapel Hill as a Morehead-Cain Scholar. She earned her PhD in Neurobiology at Duke University and completed additional studies in educational statistics and intervention assessment in the School of Education at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Email: sherilynn.black@duke.edu
Chris Brace, PhD (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Dr. Chris Brace is an associate professor (tenure) with the Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering. He received his bachelor of science in physics and bachelor of science in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 2001, and his master of science in electrical engineering and doctor of philosophy degrees from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2003 and 2005, respectively. He has been a member of the University of Wisconsin faculty since 2009, having previously served as an Assistant Scientist from 2005 to 2009.
Dr. Brace’s research interests include applications of electromagnetics in medicine,
image-guided interventional oncology, thermal therapies such as radiofrequency and
microwave ablation, multiphysics simulation, and medical imaging. He is the author
of numerous papers, conference presentations, book chapters, and patents with much of this work funded by federal and institutional grant support.
Email: clbrace@wisc.edu
Janet L. Branchaw, PhD (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Janet L. Branchaw is an Associate Professor of Kinesiology in the School of Education and the Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Science Education and Community Engagement (WISCIENCE) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW–Madison). Her research and programming focus on the development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative approaches to science education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, with special emphasis on research training, research mentoring, assessment of student learning, and broadening participation in STEM.
Dr. Branchaw led development of the Entering Research (ER) curriculum and the Entering Research Learning Assessment (ERLA), co-developed the second edition of the Entering Mentoring (EM) curriculum, and co-founded the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER). She co-led development of the NIH funded “Build Your Research Community” online course for biomedical research trainees with the Science Communication Lab; collaborated with Northwestern University’s Office for Undergraduate Research to adapt Entering Research for Humanities disciplines; and leads UW-Madison’s HHMI-funded Inclusive Excellence project to increase 2- to 4-year STEM transfer in Wisconsin.
Currently her research team is: 1) developing a comprehensive researcher development framework for undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral research trainees for use in designing research training programs, empowering research trainees to navigate their research learning experiences, and developing instruments to assess research trainee learning and to evaluate research training program effectiveness; 2) leading workshops for biology educators from diverse backgrounds and institutions to create, pilot test, and publish biology core concept instructional materials that teach students to transfer and apply their core concept knowledge across biological scales and sub-disciplines (NSF-IUSE); and 3) investigating how undergraduate physiology students develop proficiency with principle-based reasoning using microgenetic learning analysis and adapting, revising and integrating coordination class theory and metacognition theory (NSF-ECR).
Email: branchaw@wisc.edu
Angela Byars-Winston, PhD (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Dr. Angela Byars-Winston is a Counseling Psychologist and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW). She conducts diversity science research on cultural and organizational influences shaping the career development and effective mentorship of college students and early career faculty in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM). She is Principal Investigator in the NIH National Research Mentoring Network leading the Culturally Aware Mentorship (CAM) initiative. She chaired the National Academies of Sciences’ 2019 consensus study report, The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM, and is an appointed member of the NIH National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council. Dr. Byars-Winston’s research on diversifying STEMM fields was recognized by the White House Champion of Change Initiative under President Obama. She is an Elected Fellow in the Society of Counseling Psychology of the American Psychological Association, the 2022 recipient of the Outstanding Educator for Innovation in Mentorship Research Award from the Association of Clinical and Translational Science, and a 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award honoree from San Diego State University. Dr Byars-Winston is the inaugural Chair of the UW Institute for Diversity Science where she hosts the Diversity Science Podcast.
Dr. Byars-Winston was part of the envisioning team that created the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experience in Research (CIMER) and has been deeply involved since its beginning. She led the creation of several CIMER curricula to promote culturally responsive mentorship and research self-efficacy. She has facilitated mentorship education training nationwide with academic institutions, non-profit and for-profit organizations, and with professional societies.
She is the immediate past president of the South Central Wisconsin chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., the nation’s oldest Black mothers organization. Dr. Byars-Winston earned a doctoral degree in counseling psychology at Arizona State University and master’s and bachelor’s degrees at San Diego State University.
Email: ambyars@wisc.edu
Philip Cheng, PhD (Henry Ford Health System)
Philip Cheng, PhD is an Assistant Scientist at the Henry Ford Health System. Dr. Cheng is a licensed clinical psychologist, and has expertise in sleep and circadian medicine. His program of research examines the biopsychosocial dimensions of sleep and circadian disorders (e.g., insomnia, shift work disorder), with a focus on translation science that produces feasible and widely accessible interventions. Dr. Cheng is currently funded by the NIH to further characterize pathophysiological phenotypes of shift work disorder.
Dr. Cheng is experienced in facilitating research mentor training and mentee training nationally, via both the synchronous online environment as well as in-person workshops. He has worked with both the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) from 2014 to 2019 and with the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Research Experiences (CIMER) since 2018. Dr. Cheng also has specific interests in cultivating culturally aware and culturally responsive mentoring through an experientially-based curriculum, and has curricular expertise in the Culturally Aware Mentoring module offered through NRMN. He is also developing curriculum that target issues specific to the LGBT+ communities. His style and philosophy of social justice education draws from a dialogue-based approach, cultivated through his experiences with University of Michigan Program on Intergroup Relations. Dr. Cheng received his Bachelor of Science in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience, and his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Michigan.
Email: pcheng1@hfhs.org
Katy Luchini Colbry, PhD (Michigan State University)
Katy Luchini Colbry is the Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Services at the College of Engineering at Michigan State University (MSU), where she completed a B.A. and B.S. before earning M.S.E. and Ph.D. diplomas from the University of Michigan. She has published dozens of peer-reviewed works related to engineering education and graduate student success and developed the EnSURE (Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Experience) program at MSU based on the Entering Research curriculum. Dr. Colbry has also established a series of professional development courses for MSU engineering graduate students, including Entering Mentoring training. She is co-PI of the CyberAmbassadors project (NSF Award #1730137), which has developed 20+ hours of open-source curriculum on communications, teamwork, and leadership skills to support interdisciplinary research. The CyberAmbassadors project includes a facilitator training program, and has trained 50+ volunteer facilitators and more than 2,500 participants since its inception in 2017. She also serves as co-PI on a new project (NSF Award #2123260) to provide mentoring and support for students at Spelman College (a historically black institution serving women) participating in a 5-year BS+MS program with the MSU graduate program in Data Science. Dr. Colbry also volunteers as the Director of the Engineering Futures Program of Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society, which provides interactive professional development seminars for thousands of engineering students and professionals each year.
Email: colbryka@msu.edu
Kelly Diggs, PhD (Kelly A. Diggs Consulting, LLC)
Kelly Diggs, PhD is the founder and CEO of Kelly A. Diggs Consulting, LLC, a consulting and media company whose goal is to broaden accessibility to science careers through science outreach, diversity training, and professional development.
She is also a Master Facilitator with the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) and a Certified Trainer with the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER), where she leads both in-person and virtual workshops for research mentors across career stages and disciplines nationwide. She has led trainings at national scientific conferences for the American Society for Microbiology, the Society for Neuroscience, the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, and others as well as numerous colleges, universities, and medical institutes. Her curricular expertise includes Entering Mentoring, Facilitator Training for Entering Mentoring, and Culturally Aware Mentoring.
Dr. Diggs earned her BS in Biology from Alabama State University (2005) and her PhD in Biology and Biomedical Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis (2010). She was also the recipient of the NIH-Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award, Chancellor’s Diversity Graduate Fellowship, and a National Cancer Institute Postdoctoral Supplement. In her previous role, she served as the Education and Mentoring Fellow with the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and spearheaded an NSF-funded program to develop ASM’s mentoring capacity, to advance investigator-educator collaborations and interdisciplinary research, and to broaden participation of underrepresented individuals in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.
Lindsay Frazier, MD ScM (Harvard Medical School)
Dr. Frazier is Professor of Pediatrics and an Institute Physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She received her MD from Dartmouth Medical School, and completed residency and fellowship at Boston Childrens Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Frazier holds a master’s degree from the Harvard Chan School. Dr. Frazier is an expert in germ cell tumors, and leads the Malignant Germ Cell International Consortium comprised of members from 15 countries spanning all medical and scientific disciplines. Dr. Frazier is passionate about the mentorship of young investigators and received the Mentor of the Year award from the Childrens’ Oncology Group. Dr. Frazier was trained by the CIMER group and has since implemented it at DFCI, Boston Childrens and to national audiences via the several oncology societies. Dr. Frazier co-leads the Dana-Farber faculty committee on Inclusion, Diversity and Equity.
Evelyn Frazier, PhD (Florida Atlantic University)
Evelyn Marques Frazier, Ph.D., is a National Research Mentoring Network Master Facilitator for the Entering Mentoring and the Entering Research curricula, University Instructor, and Coordinator of the Honors Research Thesis Pathway Honors Program in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida Atlantic University. The undergraduate research programs were developed under an NSF-Undergraduate Research and Mentoring award (2009-2013) to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in undergraduate research and create a culture of research among undergraduate students. The program has trained over 200 students in 10 years. She is now expanding undergraduate research training to freshman and transfer students through the NSF-LEARN Program (2016-2020) in the College of Science. Her institutional goal is to build upon successful programs and bring more research opportunities to undergraduate students at FAU through NSF and NIH training grants. Her research interests also involve developing educational programs for FAU students and the community, to promote the conservation of the two threatened species that occur in the FAU Boca Raton campus, the gopher tortoise and the burrowing owls. She is an insect ecologist focusing on insect plant-interactions with experience in South American tropical ecosystems and the conservation of gopher tortoises in Florida. Dr. Frazier is also a Summer Institute on Scientific Teaching Alumni (2006, 2007, 2012) and has modified her courses to promote active learning. She has been teaching introductory biology courses with large enrollment classes for over 20 years and has been changing her courses to incorporate more active learning in the classroom. Her other research interests are in biology education and developing undergraduate research mentoring programs.
Email: efrazier@fau.edu
Stephanie House, M.A. (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Stephanie House has been working in mentorship education with the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 2009. Currently, she works with the UW Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) as the Culturally Aware Mentoring (CAM) Project Co-lead, building a sustainable infrastructure for ongoing implementation and dissemination of the CAM workshop. Since 2014, she has worked with the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN), an NIH effort to diversify the biomedical research workforce. In the first phase of this project, she codirected the NRMN Master Facilitators Initiative, leading a community of practice among those implementing mentor, mentee and facilitator training. In the second phase, she is currently working as a researcher on the CAM study, a randomized trial to assess the workshop’s impact on individuals and organizations. She previously worked with the UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) where she oversaw research mentorship initiatives with the Workforce Development Core. This included the administration of a multi-site randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of the clinical and translational research mentor training curriculum, creation of an online mentoring resource, curricular authorship, and oversight of ongoing mentor and mentee training efforts. She received a master’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1998. As a whole, she has worked in a mix of research, teaching, language interpretation and social service provision.
Email: house2@wisc.edu
Steve Lee, PhD (Stanford University)
Steve Lee is the Assistant Dean of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity in the School of Humanities and Sciences. In this role, he leads efforts in the area of student inclusion, diversity, and equity through recruiting, retaining, and supporting a diverse student body, particularly at the graduate student level.
He also serves with NRMN (National Research Mentoring Network) and CIMER (Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research) as a Principal Facilitator to provide trainings for mentors and mentees, and served in an NIH review committee for TWD (Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity) programs for four years.
Previously, Steve was the Graduate Diversity Officer for the STEM Disciplines at UC Davis, the assistant director for a graduate diversity program at Northwestern University, and on the faculty at Roosevelt University and Wheaton College. He earned a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and BS in chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University.
Email: spl33@stanford.edu
Kermin J. Martínez-Hernández, PhD (K-21 Consulting LLC. & St. John Fisher College)
Kermin J. Martínez-Hernández is the founder of K-21 Consulting LLC and an Associate Professor in the Chemistry Department at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York. He is an active NRMN & CIMER Facilitator across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. He has vast experience facilitating: Entering Mentoring, Facilitator Training for Entering Mentoring, and Culturally Aware Mentoring. He has also done synchronous online research mentor training (RMT) to mentors participating in the NSF Research Experiences of Undergraduate (REU) programs including graduate students, postdocs, and faculty. He has led trainings at national scientific conferences including the American Society for Microbiology, the Society for Neuroscience, Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), and others as well as several colleges and universities.
He teaches general chemistry classes and organizes teacher workshops about differentiated instruction and problem-based learning. His chemical education research focus is on the assessment of the implementation of problem-based learning at the middle, high school, and college levels. He is conducting research in nanotechnology with undergraduate students, his research project is “Encapsulating Ibuprofen using Beeswax Microspheres”. He is currently the Principal Investigator of the Robert Noyce INSPIRE Scholarship Grant – Inspire and Prepare Noyce Scholars to Teach in Rural Environments (NSF Award #1852690).
He has also developed other workshops and panel sessions for SACNAS related with mentoring such as “Expand Your Network: How to Identify Advisors, Mentors, Sponsors for a Successful Career” and “Stories from the Other Side of the Blurry Tunnel, It Gets Better after All!” where he provides advice and mentoring to undergraduate/graduate students. He holds degrees from Purdue University (Ph.D.), University of Puerto – Mayagüez (M.S.), and University of Puerto – Mayagüez (B.S.).
Email: kerminjoel@gmail.com
Melissa McDaniels, PhD (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Melissa McDaniels is Associate Executive Director & Scientist at the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER, www.cimerproject.org) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a co-investigator and community advancement manager for the NIH-supported National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN, https://nrmnet.net/). She is also leading a project as a part of the American Physical Society’s NSF INCLUDES Inclusive Graduate Education Network (IGEN). From 2013-2020, in her role as member of the Michigan State University Graduate School leadership team, Dr. McDaniels worked to support graduate students and postdocs at Michigan State as they develop their capacities as postsecondary instructors and mentors. From 2008-2012, McDaniels served as Director of Michigan State University’s NSF ADVANCE Grant where she spearheaded the institution’s efforts to diversify the faculty in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. In this role she was responsible for the development and implementation of MSU’s new faculty mentoring policy. Prior to working at MSU, she held full time positions at Northeastern University, Boston College, and National Geographic Society. McDaniels has over twenty years of experience in graduate student and faculty development, undergraduate and graduate teaching and learning and organizational change. She has had the pleasure of doing research and consulting domestically and internationally. McDaniels holds degrees from Michigan State University (Ph.D.), Boston College (M.A.), and University of Michigan (B.A.).
Email: mmcdaniels@wisc.edu
Christine Pfund, PhD (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Christine Pfund, Ph.D. is a senior scientist with the Wisconsin Center for Education Research and the Department of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW). Dr. Pfund earned her Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology, followed by post-doctoral research in Plant Pathology, both at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Pfund’s work focuses on developing, implementing, documenting, and studying interventions to optimize research mentoring relationships across science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM). Dr. Pfund co-authored the original Entering Mentoring curriculum and co-authored many papers documenting the effectiveness of this approach. Dr. Pfund is the principal investigator of the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) Coordination Center. She is also director of the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experience in Research at UW-Madison (CIMER). She is a member of the National Academies committee that recently published the consensus report and online guide, The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM.
Email: christine.pfund@wisc.edu
Amy Prunuske, PhD, (The Medical College of Wisconsin-Central Wisconsin)
Amy Prunuske, PhD (University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine)
Amy Prunuske is Associate Dean of Medical Education and a Professor in the Internal Medicine and Biomedical and Translational Science Departments at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine. Dr. Prunuske earned her Ph.D. in Oncological Sciences at the University of Utah followed by post-doctoral research in the Biochemistry Department at University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has held faculty appointments at the University of Minnesota Medical School and helped found the Medical College of Wisconsin-Central Wisconsin campus. Her research interests focus on medical education and community-engagement in rural areas. She has delivered mentoring workshops in conjunction with CIMER since 2010.
Email: amy.prunuske@usd.edu
Nancy Ruggeri, PhD, (University of Wisconsin-madison)
Dr. Nancy Ruggeri is director of Research Mentor and Mentee Education at WISCIENCE. She has been in educational development for over twenty years, working with faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and staff to create inclusive learning environments in higher education. She received both her Ph.D. (Curriculum & Instruction) and MS (biological anthropology studying primate behavioral ecology) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has extensive experience leading professional development initiatives, having served as director of Graduate and Postdoctoral Learning at Northwestern University and faculty fellow at the Georgia Institute of Technology following her time at UW-Madison as faculty associate in Zoology. Dr. Ruggeri has prioritized equitable practices in her work and is passionate about improving student success in STEM.
Email: nruggeri@wisc.edu
Fátima Sancheznieto, PhD, (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Fátima Sancheznieto, PhD is an associate researcher at the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) at the University of Wisconsin – Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. She is a Co-Investigator of the NRMN Coordination Center grant as well as the lead evaluator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) portfolio at the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER). In her experience as an evaluator and researcher, Fátima is interested in the development, implementation, and testing of career and professional development initiatives for early career researchers from the graduate student to junior faculty level. As a transgender, neurodivergent, and latina scientist, she works towards the empowerment of graduate students and postdocs in their training environments and mentoring relationships. She is also the President of Future of Research, an advocacy organization for early career researchers, and sits on the Mentorship, Wellbeing, and Career Development roundtable at the National Academies for Science, Engineering, and Mathematics.
Email: ruiz9@wisc.edu
Christine Sorkness, RPh, PharmD (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Christine Sorkness, RPh, PharmD, is UW Institute of Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) Senior Associate Executive Director and oversees the Translational Endeavors efforts. She serves as co-director of the ICTR Collaborative Center for Health Equity. She has a special interest in health disparities in asthma, in which she has conducted both clinical efficacy and comparative effectiveness trials. Dr. Sorkness is affiliated with the UW Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Division, with more than 25 years of NHLBI-funding as either a co-investigator or co-principal investigator. She is a co-investigator with the NIAID Inner City Asthma Consortium. A long-standing member of the UW Health Sciences IRB, she has also served on several NHLBI-appointed Data and Safety Monitoring Boards for multi-center national trials. Dr. Sorkness holds professorships in both the UW School of Pharmacy and the School of Medicine and Public Health. She provided instrumental leadership in support of the UW Mentoring Trial and the development of a legacy web-based mentoring resource. The implementation and dissemination of the mentoring initiatives at UW ICTR have benefited from Dr. Sorkness’ extensive mentoring experience and long-standing dedication to training diverse clinical and translational researchers. Dr. Sorkness is a past Lead Team Member with the CTSA Workforce Domain Task Force. She is an investigator with the NIGMS National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN), and is a Master Facilitator.
Email: sorkness@wisc.edu
Etta Ward (Full Circle Consulting, LLC)
Until recently, Etta Ward served as the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Development at Indiana University Indianapolis (IUI). She led research development programs and operations for over twenty-two years. Ward’s primary role was to advance the IUI research mission through faculty research and professional development. She continues to promote effective mentoring as a strategy for personal and professional success, which has been central to many efforts and has grown well beyond the boundaries of academia. As a Certified Facilitator and designated Principal Facilitator of the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research curriculum, Ward has built a body of work around effective mentorship – especially targeting minoritized populations. She promotes competency-based and culturally aware mentoring strategies that bolster inclusive mentoring cultures. This specific work served as the impetus for her successful application and experience in the 2018 IEA Fulbright program to France and Belgium. Ward views this work as her professional calling, with potential to impact mentoring generations into the future. She values opportunities to pay-it-forward by sharing her insights and passion with diverse audiences from all career stages, disciplines, and professions. Ward departed Indiana University Indianapolis in early 2024 to pursue her own venture Full Circle Consulting, LLC. .
Email: emissy0601@gmail.com
Sonia Zárate, PhD (Howard Hughes Medical Institute)
Sonia Zárate, is the Senior Program Lead for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Center for the Advancement of Science Leadership & Culture. She directs Scientific Professional Development at the Institute and provides professional development opportunities for HHMI scientists in service of fostering inclusive scientific research cultures. During her tenure at HHMI, Sonia led the Gilliam fellowship program (2017-2022), the only program in the nation that requires advisors to participate in a year-long mentorship development course. Prior to her tenure at HHMI, she was the Director for the Office of Undergraduate Research at the University of San Diego and the Associate Director for the Undergraduate Research Center-Sciences at UCLA. A longstanding SACNISTA, Sonia has given back to the organization as a general board member, as Secretary, and as President of SACNAS (2018-2021). She currently chairs SACNAS’ Public Policy Advisory Committee, is a member of the Council of Scientific Advisors, and co-facilitates the Linton-Poodry SACNAS Leadership Institute for early- and mid-career scientists and the Postdoc Leadership Institute. Sonia has been a Principal Facilitator for the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) and the Center for Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) since 2014. Sonia received her PhD in plant molecular biology and did her postdoctoral work in chemical ecology. She is currently pursuing a master’s in public interest law at UCLA School of Law.
Email: zarates@hhmi.org