Current and Past SURE Scholars


SURE and HBCU Scholars pause for a photo at AHA Scientific Sessions 2019The 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 SURE Scholars

Boston University

Morgan Ellis Headshot

Morgan Ellis
Spelman College
Mentor: Sherral Devine, PhD

Arinyah Dickerson Headshot

Arinyah Dickerson
University of North Carolina
Mentor: Carl Streed, MD, MPH, BS

She'Kyra Paige

She'Kyra Paige
Tougaloo College
Mentor: Naomi Hamburg, MD

Monia Zein Headshot

Monia Zein
Tougaloo College
Mentor: Nathanael Fillmore, PhD

Medical College of Wisconsin

Shawna Butler Headshot

Shawna Butler
Mount Mary University
Mentor: Michaela Patterson, BS, PhD

Emma Cartney Headshot

Emma Cartney
Allegheny College
Mentor: Lu Han, PhD

Carmen Lopez Headshot
Carmen Lopez
Mount Mary University
Mentor: Michaela Patterson, PhD
Awa Sidibe Headshot

Awa Sidibe
Georgia State University
Mentor: Anna Palatnik, MD

Northwestern University

Angelease Bunton Headshot

Angelease Bunton
Spelman College
Mentor: Ike Okwuosa, MD

Ahmed Mahdi Headshot

Ahmed Mahdi
Northwestern University
Mentor: Ike Okwuosa, MD

Trinity Thomas Headshot

Trinity Thomas
Chicago State University
Mentor: Ike Okwuosa, MD

Yaileen Velasquez Headshot

Yaileen Velazquez
Northern Illinois University
Mentor: Ike Okwuosa, MD

Stanford University

Oluwateniola Akin-Olugbemi Headshot

Oluwateniola Akin-Olugbemi
Northwestern University
Mentor: Ioannis Karakikes, PhD

Brett Cardenas Headshot

Brett Cardenas
Harvard College
Mentor: Allison Marsden, PhD

Yohanna Gebremedhin Headshot

Yohanna Gebremedhin
UC Davis
Mentor: Wah Chiu, PhD

Josiah John Headshot

John Josiah
Johnson C. Smith University
Mentor: Shoa Clarke, MD, PhD

University Hospitals of Cleveland

Donald Folk Headshot

Donald Folk
Case Western Reserve University
Mentor: Kenneth Remy, MD, MHSc, MSCI, FCCM

April Machta Headshot

April Machta
Nova Southeastern University
Mentor: Erika Trapl, PhD

Nyasha Machote

Nyasha Machote
Case Western Reserve University
Mentor: Allison Kraus, PhD

Desmond Norris Headshot

Desmond Norris
LeMoyne-Owen College
Mentor: Peng Zhangl, PhD

Vanderbilt University

Derrick Mason Headshot

Derrick Mason
Boston University
Mentor: Yan Ru Su, MD

Ashton Oliver Headshot

Ashton Oliver
University of Alabama Birmingham
Mentor: Antentor Hinton, PhD

Ashley Sawyer Headshot

Ashley Sawyer
Rollins College
Mentor: Timothy Hohman, PhD

Aaron Whiteside Headshot

Aaron Whiteside
Central State University
Mentor: Antentor Hinton, PhD

2022 SURE Scholars

Boston University

Christopher Buie BU

Christopher Buie
Tougaloo College
Mentor: Angie Serrano, PhD

Natalie Hampton BU

Natalie Hampton
Tougaloo College
Mentor: Naomi Hamburg, MD

Bryan Medina BU

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

Esmeralda Navarro BU

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

Medical College of Wisconsin

Maria Cabrera MCW

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

Jeovannee Castilla MCW

Jeovannee Castillo
Lycoming College
Mentor: Michaela Patterson, PhD

Anna Mikolchak MCW

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

Tracy Nelson MCW

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

Northwestern University

Thomas Barnes III NW

Thomas Barnes III
Morehouse College
Mentor: Faraz Ahmad, MD

Jessica Guzman NW

Jessica Guzman
Dominican University
Mentor: Yonghui Ding, PhD

Adaeze Olikagu NW

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

Imani Sykes NW

Imani Sykes
University of Missouri - Columbia
Mentor: Jennifer Caldwell, PhD

Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Jasmine Armstead Salk

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

Kaitlyn Done VU

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

Stanford University

Bongiwe Ncube SU

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

Amanda Padilla SU

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

Justice Owah Bwalter Lab SU

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

Danielle Young SU

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

University Hospitals of Cleveland

Rose Len Alvarado UHC

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

Uapingena Kandjoze UHC

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

Vanderbilt University

Payton Debrew VU

Payton DeBrow
Tuskegee University
Mentor: David Wasserman, PhD

Kaitlyn Done VU

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

Alonzo Frederic VU

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

Jalil Mitchel VU

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

2021 SURE Scholars

Boston University

Chelsea Akubo BU

Chelsea Akubo
Boston University
Mentor: Naomi Hamburg, MD

Jackson Corban BU

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

Destiny Jackson BU

Destiny Jackson
Emory University
Mentor: Vijaya B Kolachalama, PhD

Sheila Pagtakhan BU

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

Northwestern University

Justin Banks NW

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

Juan McCook NW

Juan McCook
Northwestern Univeristy
Mentor: Matthew Feinstein, MD

Chelsea Nwanah NW

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

Thalia Perez NW

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

Karl Wilson - NW

Karl Wilson
DePauw University
Mentor: Ike Okwuosa, MD

Stanford University

Nickeisha Cuthbert SU

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

Angel Emodi SU

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

Alexander M. Martinez-Lopez VU

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

Aaron Panduro SU

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

Amal A. Suleiman SU

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

Stefan Veizades SU

Stefan Veizades
University of Edinburgh
Mentor: Patricia Nguyen, MD

Vanderbilt University

C Aira Dillard VU

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

Alexandra Filipkowski VU

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

Joshua Payton

Joshua Payton,
Hampton University
Mentor: Laura Keohane, PhD

Malik Robinson VU

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

2020 SURE Scholars

Boston University

Destinee Bledsoe BU

Destinee Bledsoe
Tougaloo College
Mentor: Naomi Hamburg, MD

GerMya Bradley BU

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

Ayana Gray BU

Ayana Gray
Harvard University
Mentor: Deepa Gopal, MD

Northwestern University

Ted Amadi NW

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

Sarah Davis NW

Sarah Davis
Northwestern University
Mentor: Ike Okwuosa, MD

Cede Onyago NW

Cede Onyango
Xavier University
Mentor: Elizabeth McNally, MD

Emamoke Oshode NW

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

Stanford University

Darlene Ferrer SU

Darlene Ferrer
University of Guam
Mentor: Ronglih Liao, PhD

Gerardo Gamino SU

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

Aaron Panduro SU

Aaron Panduro
CSU Fresno
Mentor: Alison Marsden, PhD

Stefan Veizades SU

Stefan Veizades
University of Edinburgh
Mentor: Patricia Nguyen, MD

Vanderbilt University

Grace Garret VU

Grace Garret
Elon University
Mentor: Kendra Oliver, PhD

Alexander M. Martinez-Lopez VU

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

Hector A Haddock Martinez VU

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

Davin A Means VU

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

2019 SURE Scholars

Boston University

Justin Coleman BU

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

Kayley Pate BU

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

Ajah Williams BU

Ajah Williams
Louisiana State University, Junior
Mentor: Dr. Gopal Deepa, MD

Medical College of Wisconsin

Charles Anugwom MCW

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

Demi Carter MCW

Demi Carter
Hampton University
Mentor: Alexander Staruschenko, PhD

Guadalupe Valdivia Esparza MCW

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

Northwestern University

Emmanuel Ogunlana NW

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

Bassel Shanab NW

Bassel Shanab
Northwestern University, Junior
Mentor: Rishi Arora, MD

Caitlin Somerville NW

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

Stanford University

Nashielli Diaz SU

Nashielli Diaz
Tufts University, Sophomore
Mentor: Ioannis Karakikes

Gabriela Escobar SU

Gabriela Escobar
Stanford, Sophomore
Mentor: Sean Wu, MD

Roberto Guzman Hernandez SU

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

Vanderbilt University

Jelicia RoShell Daily VU

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

Akire Harris VU

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

Lydon George Rolle VU

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

2025 Holidays

AHA offices will be closed:
Jan. 1 Sept. 1
Jan. 20 Nov. 27 & 28
May 26 Dec. 22-26
July 4
Altum/Proposal Central will be closed:
Jan. 1 July 4
Jan. 20 Sept. 1
Feb. 17 Oct. 13
May 26 Nov. 27 & 28
June 19 Dec. 22-26