Scholars Mentorship

An Ãå±±ÊÓÆµ Scholar is presenting her scientific poster to a program mentor.
Mentors are the beating heart of the Ãå±±ÊÓÆµ Scholars Program, offering scholars the guidance, encouragement and expertise they need to grow both personally and professionally. Their commitment helps bridge the gap between academic learning and real-world impact, creating a strong foundation for the Scholars’ future success.

Want to become a volunteer mentor? Email us

 

Alabama

Andrea Gillis, MD
Assistant Professor, Department of General Surgery, Division of Breast and Endocrine Surgery | University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine

Angela Calderon, PhD
Professor, Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison School of Pharmacy | Auburn University

Bruce F. Smith, VMD, PhD
Professor and Director, Auburn University Research Initiative in Cancer (AURIC) | Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine

Larrell Wilkinson, PhD
Associate Professor, Community Health and Human Services | University of Alabama at Birmingham

Lilanta Joy Bradley, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine and Population Health | The University of Alabama 

Shameka L. Cody, PhD, AGNP-C, PMHNP-BC
Associate Professor, Capstone College of Nursing | The University of Alabama

Florida

Dahis Manzanares, PhD
Professor of Biology | Miami Dade College

Karen MacDonell, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine | Florida State University College of Medicine
Associate Professor, Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, Center for Translational Behavioral Science | Florida State University

Maria Monzon-Medina, PhD
Assistant Professor of Chemistry | Miami Dade College

Nan Hu, PhD
Associate Professor of Biostatistics, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work | Florida International University

Olatokunbo Osibogun, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work | Florida International University

Silvia Torices Del Val, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | University of Miami School of Medicine

Sylvie Naar, PhD
Distinguished and Endowed Professor, Department of Behavioral Science and Social Medicine | Florida State University College of Medicine
Director, Center for Translational Behavioral Research | Florida State University

Trinidad Arguelles, PhD
Associate Professor Senior, Psychology and SLS | Miami Dade College

Trudy Gaillard, PhD
Associate Professor of Nursing | Florida International University

Georgia

Alvaro Alonso, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health | Emory University

Arshed Quyyumi, MD, FACC, FRCP
Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology; Director, Cardiovascular Research Institute | Emory University School of Medicine

Dayna A. Johnson, PhD, MPH, MSW, MS
Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health | Emory University

Dr. Karen A. Johnson, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Social Work | The University of Georgia

Tennille Leak-Johnson, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Cardiovascular Research Institute | Morehouse School of Medicine

Illinois

José Biller, MD, FACP, FAAN, FANA, FÃå±±ÊÓÆµ
Professor and Chair, Department of Neurology | Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Medical Center

Paola C. Rosas, MD, PhD, RPh
Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice | University of Illinois, College of Pharmacy

Rebecca Garcia Sosa, MD
Attending Physician, Division of Neurology, Epilepsy Center, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago; Pediatric Epilepsy Fellowship Site Director; Child Neurology Associate Program Director; Assistant Professor of Pediatrics & Neurology | Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine

Louisiana

Elizabeth Engler-Chiurazzi, PhD
Assistant Professor, Director of Community Outreach and Engagement; If/Then Ambassador, Clinical Neuroscience Research Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Tulane Brain Institute | Tulane University

Ileana De Anda-Duran, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Epidemiology | Tulane University School of Public Health

Kevin Zwezdaryk, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology | Tulane University School of Medicine

Miranda Mitchell, MD, FACP
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Internal Medicine Residency (Baton Rouge)
Director, Office of Diversity and Community Engagement (Baton Rouge Branch Campus) | Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center

Prasad V.G. Katakam, MD, PhD, FCVS
Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology | Tulane University School of Medicine

Robert Newton, Jr., PhD
Associate Professor, Physical Activity and Ethnic Minority Health, Pennington Biotechnology Research Center | Louisiana State University

Mississippi

Clifton Addison, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Senior Research Scientist, Jackson Heart Study Graduate Training and Education Center | Jackson State University School of Public Health

Junie Paula Warrington, PhD, FÃå±±ÊÓÆµ, FANA
Associate Professor, Department of Neurology and Associate Director, Program in Neuroscience, Translational Research Center | University of Mississippi Medical Center

Lorena Amaral, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology | University of Mississippi Medical Center

Marinelle Payton, MD, PhD, MS, MPH
Chair and Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Director, Center of Excellence in Minority Health and Disparities; Director, Jackson Heart Study Graduate Training and Education Center | Jackson State University School of Public Health

New Jersey

Ayana K. April-Sanders, PhD, MPH
Instructor, Department of Biostatistics & Epidemiology | Rutgers School of Public Health

Carlos Molina, PhD
Professor, Department of Biology | Montclair State University

Scott L. Kight, PhD
Associate Dean, College of Science and Mathematics | Montclair State University

New York

Christa Hartch, PhD, RN, FNP-C
Tenure-Track Assistant Professor, School of Nursing and Health Sciences | Manhattanville University

North Carolina

Jaclyn P. Maher, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology | University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Jennifer Etnier, PhD
Julia Taylor Morton Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of Kinesiology | University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Justin B. Moore, PhD, MS, FACSM
Professor and Vice-Chair, Department of Implementation Science (primary), Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, Division of Public Health Sciences | Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Justin Kramer, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Center for Health System Sciences (Chassis) | Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Li Qian, PhD
Professor of Pathology; Associate Director of the McAllister Heart Institute | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine

Shawnta L. Lloyd, PhD, MPH
Project Lead, Community Health Alliance for Men’s Health Promotion (Champ) and Co-PI, Inspiring Healthy Engagement and Learning for Vascular Disease (I-heal) | Wake Forest University School of Medicine

TanYa Gwathmey-Williams, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Section on Hypertension; Associate Director and Director of Research Education and Training, Maya Angelou Research Center for Healthy Communities and Director, Biomarker Analytical Core (Formerly Hypertension Core Laboratory) | Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Yashashwi Pokharel, MD, MSCR
Assistant Professor, Departments of Internal and Cardiovascular Medicine and Implementation Science, Maya Angelou Research Center for Healthy Communities, Office of Global Health | Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Ohio

Priyanka Gudsoorkar, BDS, MBA, MPH
Assistant Professor Educator and Director of Global Health Concentration, BSPH | University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

Puerto Rico

Elizabeth Padilla-Crespo, PhD
Distinguished Research Professor, Science and Technology Department; Internship and Student Mobility Coordinator, Internationalization Office | Interamericana University of Puerto Rico – Aguadilla

Keishla M. Rodríguez-Mártir, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Natural Sciences | University of Puerto Rico – Aguadilla

South Carolina

Jewel Scott, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor, Department of Biobehavioral Health and Nursing Science, College of Nursing | University of South Carolina

Tisha Felder, PhD, MSW
Associate Professor, Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Arnold School of Public Health and Department of Behavioral Health and Nursing Science, College of Nursing | University of South Carolina

Tennessee

Aaron Aday, MD, MSc
Assistant Professor, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine; Co-Director, Vascular Medicine Section | Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Antentor O. Hinton, Jr., PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt School of Medicine Basic Sciences, Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center | Vanderbilt University

Carla Gardner-Jones, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences | Tennessee State University

Danielle Dean, PhD
Assistant Professor, Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism; Assistant Professor, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics | Vanderbilt University

Elaine Shelton, PhD
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics and Pharmacology, Division of Neonatology | Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Evangeline Motley, PhD
Professor, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Physiology | Meharry Medical College

Ioannis Dragatsis, PhD
Professor, Department of Physiology | University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Joey Barnett, PhD
Professor of Pharmacology Emeritus | Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Junwang Xu, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Physiology | University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Mulubrhan Mogos, PhD, MSc, FÃå±±ÊÓÆµ
Assistant Professor | Vanderbilt University School of Nursing

Zheng Fan, PhD
Professor and Chair, The Graduate Committee; Director of the Molecular Translational Physiology Track, Biomedical Science PhD Program, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine | University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Texas

Adriana Visbal, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Natural Sciences | University of Houston – Downtown

Laura Quiñones Camacho, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education | The University of Texas at Austin

Na Li, PhD
Professor of Medicine, Section of Cardiovascular Research; J.S. Abercrombie Chair - Atherosclerosis and Lipoprotein Research; Associate Section Chief, Section of Cardiovascular Research | Baylor College of Medicine

Rosenda Murillo, PhD
Associate Professor, Psychological, Health, and Learning Sciences | University of Houston

Our Alumni

Making a difference and impacting the future of our communities.

Scholars in the News

Read highlights from the program, including features on past and present scholars.

Advance. Innovate. Lead.

Unlock elite career tools, cutting-edge research, and powerful connections to shape the future of science.