NIH grant supplement will support mentorship within biomedical research at UCSC

UC Santa Cruz Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Rebecca DuBois has won a grant supplement from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to enhance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) in her lab and at UCSC.

“I am thrilled to be able to continue with my passion in mentoring graduate students and new faculty in their career paths in biomedical science,” DuBois said.

This grant, which is a supplement to an existing NIH award, will enhance mentorship for two underrepresented female graduate students in collaboration with Assistant Professor of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Valerie Cortez. Most of the nearly $380,000 in funding will be directed toward supporting the two students in their work on a new vaccine project, which is a joint effort between the DuBois and Cortez labs. 

The two professors will provide expanded mentorship to help both students achieve their long-term research and career goals. This will include weekly research project meetings, training on intellectual property and tech transfer, participation in conferences, the development of manuscripts for publication, and more. 

Additionally, DuBois will use these funds to formalize and strengthen an existing mentorship relationship between herself and Cortez, invite professors and experts in virology Carlos Arias and Susana López, both from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, to UCSC for research seminars and a panel discussion, and mentor new biomedical faculty at UCSC.