Current and Past SURE Scholars
The SURE Scholars program began in 2019 as a pilot and has grown each year in participating institutions and students. This summer program offers an opportunity for underrepresented college students matriculating to their sophomore, junior or senior years an opportunity to working in research with a mentor at a partner institution. Below is a list of the awardees since inception of program.
2023 Scholars will be announced by the end of April, 2023. Please check back.
Boston University

Christopher Buie
Tougaloo College
Mentor: Angie Serrano, PhD

Natalie Hampton
Tougaloo College
Mentor: Naomi Hamburg, MD

Bryan Medina
University of Houston
Mentor: Carl Streed, MD & May Navarra, MPH

Esmeralda Navarro
University of California, Berkeley
Mentor: Rhoda Au, PhD
Medical College of Wisconsin

Maria Cabrera,
University of Puerto Rico,
Mentor: Akiko Mammoto MD, PhD

Jeovannee Castillo
Lycoming College
Mentor: Michaela Patterson, PhD

Anna Mikolchak
St Cloud State University
Mentor: Brian Smith, PhD, Rachel J. Lipinski, PhD, & Joshua Nord, PhD

Tracy Nelson
College of Charleston, South Carolina
Mentor: Lu Han, PhD
Northwestern University

Thomas Barnes III
Morehouse College
Mentor: Faraz Ahmad, MD

Jessica Guzman
Dominican University
Mentor: Yonghui Ding, PhD

Adaeze Olikagu
Chicago State University
Mentor: Romina Beatriz-Cejas, PhD & Davi Lyra-Leite, PhD

Imani Sykes
University of Missouri - Columbia
Mentor: Jennifer Caldwell, PhD
Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Jasmine Armstead
Stillman College
Mentor: Jan Karlseder, PhD, Sara Przetocka, PhD, & Tobias Schmidt, PhD

Oumou Sylla,
Stillman College,
Mentor: John Reynolds, PhD & Courtney Glavis-Bloom, PhD
Stanford University

Bongiwe Ncube
Goshen College
Mentor: Mary Hynes, PhD & Jeffrey Naftaly, PhD

Amanda Padilla
University of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez
Mentor: Joseph Woo, MD & Danielle Mullis, MD

Justice Owah
Stanford University
Mentor: Marion S. Buckwalter, MD, PhD & Victoria Hernandez, PhD Candidate

Danielle Young,
Claflin University
Mentor: Katrin Svensson, PhD & Lianna Wat, PhD
University Hospitals of Cleveland

Rose León-Alvarado
Earlham College
Mentor: Andrew A. Pieper, MD, PhD & Preethy Sridharan, MD/PhD Candidate

Uapingena Kandjoze,
Earlham College,
Mentor: Andrew A. Pieper, MD, PhD & Yeojung Koh, PhD candidate
Vanderbilt University

Payton DeBrow
Tuskegee University
Mentor: David Wasserman, PhD

Kaitlyn Done,
Spelman College,
Mentor: Rolanda Lister, MD

Alonzo Frederic
Morehouse College
Mentor: Jerod Denton, PhD & Kangjun LI, PharmD

Jalil Mitchel
Vanderbilt University
Mentor: Kevin Niswender, MD, PhD & Richard L. Printz, Ph.D
Boston University

Chelsea Akubo
Boston University
Mentor: Naomi Hamburg, MD

Jackson Corban
Tougaloo College
Mentors: Steven Lubitz, MD & Christopher D. Anderson, MD

Destiny Jackson
Emory University
Mentor: Vijaya B Kolachalama, PhD

Sheila Pagtakhan
University of Alaska Anchorage
Mentor: Deepa Gopal, MD
Northwestern University

Justin Banks
University of Illinois at Chicago
Mentor: Sadiya Khan, MD

Juan McCook
Northwestern Univeristy
Mentor: Matthew Feinstein, MD

Chelsea Nwanah
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Mentor: Bradley Allen, MD

Thalia Perez
Northwestern University
Mentor: Lifang Hou, PhD & Kyeezu Kim, PhD

Karl Wilson
DePauw University
Mentor: Ike Okwuosa, MD
Stanford University

Nickeisha Cuthbert
Claflin University
Mentor: Katrin Svensson, PhD & Meng Zhao, PhD

Angel Emodi
University of California, Los Angeles
Mentor: Mark Skylar-Scott, PhD & Jessica Herrmann, MD

Alexander M. Martinez-Lopez,
Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico,
Mentor: Kendra Oliver, PhD

Aaron Panduro
California State University, Fresno
Mentor: Alison Marsden, PhD, Erica Schwarz, PhD, & Ingrid Lan, PhD

Amal A. Suleiman
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Mentor: Nazish Sayed, MD, PhD

Stefan Veizades
University of Edinburgh
Mentor: Patricia Nguyen, MD
Vanderbilt University

C’Aira Dillard
Johnson & Wales University
Mentor: Rolanda Lister, MD

Alexandra Filipkowski
Fairfield University
Mentor: Aaron Aday, MD & Matthew Freiberg, MD

Joshua Payton,
Hampton University
Mentor: Laura Keohane, PhD

Malik Robinson
University of Missouri
Mentor: Carrie Fry, MD, PhD
Boston University

Destinee Bledsoe
Tougaloo College
Mentor: Naomi Hamburg, MD

GerMya Bradley
Tougaloo College
Mentor: Ludovic Trinquart, PhD, MPH

Ayana Gray
Harvard University
Mentor: Deepa Gopal, MD
Northwestern University

Ted Amadi
University of South Alabama
Mentor: Megan Roy-Puckelwartz, PhD

Sarah Davis
Northwestern University
Mentor: Ike Okwuosa, MD

Cede Onyango
Xavier University
Mentor: Elizabeth McNally, MD

Emamoke Oshode
Northwestern Univeristy
Mentor: Laura Rasmussen-Torvik, PhD
Stanford University

Darlene Ferrer
University of Guam
Mentor: Ronglih Liao, PhD

Gerardo Gamino,
Brigham Young University
Mentor: Fatima Rodriguez, MD, MPH

Aaron Panduro
CSU Fresno
Mentor: Alison Marsden, PhD

Stefan Veizades
University of Edinburgh
Mentor: Patricia Nguyen, MD
Vanderbilt University

Grace Garret
Elon University
Mentor: Kendra Oliver, PhD

Alexander M. Martinez-Lopez,
Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico,
Mentor: Kendra Oliver, PhD

Hector A. Haddock-Martinez
University of Puerto Rico
Mentor: Kendra Oliver, PhD

Davin A. Means
University of Arkansas
Mentor: Kendra Oliver, PhD
Boston University

Justin Coleman
Tougaloo College, Junior
Mentor: Dr. Ludovic Trinquart, PhD, MPH

Kayley Pate
University of Central Oklahoma, Senior
Mentor: Dr. Vijaya Kolachalama, PhD

Ajah Williams
Louisiana State University, Junior
Mentor: Dr. Gopal Deepa, MD
Medical College of Wisconsin

Charles Anugwom
Prairie View A&M University, Senior
Mentor: Akiko Mammoto, MD, PhD

Demi Carter
Hampton University
Mentor: Alexander Staruschenko, PhD

Guadalupe Valdivia Esparza
Marquetta University, Senior
Mentor: Akiko Mammoto,, MD, PhD
Northwestern University

Emmanuel Ogunlana
Northwestern University, Sophomore
Mentor: Nina Suresh, MD,

Bassel Shanab
Prairie View A&M University, Junior
Mentor: Rishi Arora, MD

Caitlin Somerville
Northwestern University, Junior
Mentor: Rod Passman, MD
Stanford University

Nashielli Diaz
Tufts University, Sophomore
Mentor: Ioannis Karakikes

Gabriela Escobar
Stanford, Sophomore
Mentor: Sean Wu, MD

Roberto Guzman Hernandez
University of Puerto Rico, Senior
Mentor: Ke Yuan
Vanderbilt University

Jelicia Ro'Shell Daily
Miles College, Senior
Mentor: Dan Roden, MD

Akiré Harris
Tougaloo College, Senior
Mentor: Bjorn Knollman, MD, PhD

Lyndon George Rolle
Fisk University, Junior
Mentor: Quinn Wells, PharmD, MD