Congratulations to the following Microbiology & Immunology students who have recently received awards both within the University and externally.
Lakeya Hardy, a doctoral candidate in Dr. Wesley Burks’ lab, was recently awarded entry into the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Graduate Diversity Enrichment Program (GDEP). The GDEP supports underrepresented Ph.D. candidates enrolled in a North Carolina university and conducting biomedical research. The Fund is committed to funding the next generation of scientists and researchers and seeks to support PhD students in increasing diversity in science. The primary goal of GDEP is to enhance the graduate student experience and provide early exposure to various professional environments and networks for which future research and/or professoriate opportunities might manifest.
Cesar Lopez, a doctoral candidate in Dr. Helen Lazear’s lab, has received an NRSA F31 Fellowship from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The purpose of this NRSA program is to enable promising predoctoral students with potential to develop into productive, independent research scientists and to obtain mentored research training while conducting dissertation research. Since 2014, 13 Microbiology and Immunology students have earned NIH F30 (MD/PhD) or F31 (PhD) predoctoral fellowships.
Andrew Perault, a doctoral candidate in Dr. Peggy Cotter’s lab, has been awarded the Dissertation Completion Fellowship from the Graduate School at UNC. These fellowships support promising students in the final year of dissertation work by enabling them to focus full time on their research and completing their program of study. Microbiology & Immunology students have been remarkably successful in earning Dissertation Completion Fellowships from the UNC Graduate School, with a total of 15 such fellowships awarded in the past five years.
Please join us in congratulating these students and their mentors for achieving these awards!