Graduate Diversity Enrichment Program

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Grant Recipients

2025

Akua Acheampong Duke University School of Medicine Molecular Determinants of G Protein Subtype Specific Coupling at the Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor

Dalal Azzam Duke University School of Medicine Molecular Insights into Human Mismatch Repair: A Structure-Function Elucidation of Pathway Disruption and Protein Assembly

Olivia Conway Duke University School of Medicine Optineurin-Mediated Mitophagy as a mtDNA Quality Control Pathway in Primary Hippocampal Neurons

Sy’Keria Garrison University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Investigating the Impact of Perineuronal Nets on Behavioral Flexibility and Electrophysiology in the Orbitofrontal Cortex

Lailah Alyssa Ligons Duke University ElectroGLuE: Electropolymer that Genetically Links Neurons to Electrodes

Miranda Lumbreras Duke University School of Medicine Investigating the Immune Response of the Meninges during Cryptococcal Infection

Vianna Martinez Duke University School of Medicine Elucidating the Age-Dependent Role of BMP13 in Cartilage Repair

Patrick Prochazka Duke University School of Medicine Evaluating the Potential of Repurposing Targeted Therapies for Precision Lung Cancer Prevention

Mohammad Riahi North Carolina State University Development of Intelligent Closed-Loop Systems for Automated Diagnosis, Remote Care, and Precision Intervention in Healthcare Applications

Celeste Rocio Robles University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Investigating the Mechanisms and Heterogeneity of Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Infection and Reactivation in Sensory Neurons

Kirsten Smith Duke University School of Medicine Potential Roles for Secreted Bacterial Fibronectin Binding Proteins in Angiogenesis

Asjah Wallace Duke University School of Medicine Investigating the Role of Histone Deacetylase-3 in Metastatic Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma

Tamia Waker-Atwater Duke University School of Medicine Exploring the Role of Nurses and Their Neurophobia Experiences in Caring for Patients with Neurologic Conditions

Claudia Sofia Wong Duke University Studying Oxidative Stress Using a Small Artery In Vitro Model

2023

Amy Aponte The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Regulation of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor (Rb) by the ubiquitin-proteasome system

Ana Berglind The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Leveraging genetics and bioinformatics to identify novel therapeutic targets in epilepsy

Kayla Fernando Duke University School of Medicine Testing the role of the integrated stress response in cerebellar synaptic plasticity and motor learning

Giovanna Elizabeth Hernandez Maximizing Scientific Research Training and Collegiality While Studying Hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae in Graduate School

Benjamin Franklin Kornegay III The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Uncovering the Role of Zinc Finger Proteins in Cohesin Mediated Enhancer-Promoter Loop Formation

Davoneshia Lollis Duke University Investigating the Role of WNT Signaling Modulation in the Evolution of the Developing Human Cerebral Cortex

Choiselle Marius Duke University School of Medicine Yolk-sac Erythromyeloid Progenitors in Fracture Healing and Regeneration

Dasean Nardone Duke University School of Medicine Targeting Interferon Signaling in Macrophages for Cancer Immunotherapy

Jessica Portillo Duke University Medical Center   The Role of Host Genetics in Modulating the Beneficial Effects of the Gut Commensal Akkermansia muciniphila

Pedro Luis Rodriguez-Echemendia The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill c-Fos Immediate Early Gene Expression in the Neural Systems Underlying Learned Negative Affect

Charles Okechukwu Wake Forest University Health Sciences CF10/LV Overcomes 5-FU/LV-Resistance in Murine and Human CRC Cell lines

Danielle Williams The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Characterizing the Evolution of Macrophage-Tropic HIV-1 in the Central Nervous System

2021

Austin Maduka Duke University Defining Novel Roles of Ubiquitin Accumulation during the Mammalian Oxidative Stress Response

Shunafrica White North Carolina A&T State University The Effects of Diabetes on the Mechanical Properties of Patellar Tendon

Ashley Aguillard University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Elucidating the role of ankyrin-B in brown adipose tissue function and energy balance

David Aponte Diaz University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Membrane and lipidome dynamics during Enterovirus infection

Danielle Brathwaite University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Emergency Department-Based Psychiatric Services for Children and Adolescents: An In-depth Investigation of Care in North Carolina

Danielle Chappell University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Characterizing the impact of a cellular deubiquitinase on the lifecycle of Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus

Jeliyah Clark University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Nutritional modulation of fetal susceptibility to prenatal inorganic arsenic exposure

Marta Cruz Cisneros University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Genetic Regulation of Antibody Response to Adjuvanted Vaccination

Carmen Marable University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill The Role of the Placenta-Brain-Axis in Children's Neurodevelopment

Jamshaid Shahir University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Cell Cycle Remodeling During Human Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation

Ellysa Vogt University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Developing an extremophile yeast model for new insights into septin assembly at the membrane

2019

Alejandro Antonia Duke University Host-Directed Therapy to Circumvent Immune Evasion by Leishmania major

Dalton Nathaniel Hughes Duke University Network Dynamics of Negative and Positive Valence Systems in Decision Making

Luis Alexander Navarro Duke University Guided Adsorption of Protein-Bottlebrush Hybrids for Functional Surface Coatings

Estefany Yamilet Reyes Duke University Mechanism to evade host immunity by Mucorales fungi

Blanca Victoria Rodriguez Duke University Characterizing the association of RNA with bacterial membrane vesicles and their delivery to host cells

LaKeya Charmaine University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Hardy Using STALs to exploit CD22 on peanut-specific memory B cells to induce tolerance

Juanita Limas University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill A Novel Way of Blocking Origin Licensing and Recapitulating Early Oncogene Activation

Shenee Chantel Martin University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Examining the molecular consequences of sleep disruption in Alzheimer's disease onset and progression

Kia Zolee Perez-Vale University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Defining the molecular mechanisms underlying apical-basal polarity establishment and morphogenesis

Ricardo Rivera-Soto University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Characterizing the role of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in KSHV-associated malignancies

Tamara Vital University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Exploring the mechanism underlying a small molecule inhibitor of chromatin accessibility

2017

Grace Renee Anderson Duke University Exploiting collateral sensitivity to target kinase inhibitor-resistant lung cancers

Manuella Rossette Clark-Cotton Duke University Mechanisms of cell fusion during mating in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

David Rafael Martinez Duke University Identifying placental factors that modulate maternal IgG transplacental transfer

Joseph Njoroge Mwangi Middle College at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro Using ion mobility mass spectrometry to identify multiple isomeric RNA disease biomarkers

Christine Emily Psaltis East Carolina University Identifying the role of prohibitin in preserving organ function during sepsis

Christine Vazques Duke University Defining how a tyrosine within the hepatitis C virus protease regulates antiviral innate immunity

Award Timeline

Jul 07, 2025

Application Deadline

Sep 15, 2025

Notice of Award

Nov 01, 2025

Award Start Date

Aug 30, 2027

Award End Date

Program Contacts

Alfred Mays

Senior Program Officer

919-991-5103

Samantha Moore

Program Associate

919-917-5137

Kendi Kajogo

Program Coordinator

919-991-5116