2022 Minority Scholar in Cancer Research Awardees
The AACR is very pleased to administer this important program, which provides funds for the participation of early-career, meritorious minority scientists at the AACR Annual Meeting 2022. Scholars are chosen from both minority institutions and the larger bodies of universities, colleges, and research institutes. They are selected on the basis of their qualifications, references from mentors, and an estimation of the potential professional benefit to the awardees.
Since its founding in 1985, the Minority Scholar Awards in Cancer Research program has been supported by a generous grant of the National Cancer Institute’s Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities. The Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (CRCHD) works to increase the number of underrepresented minorities participating as competitive NCI/NIH-funded cancer researchers.
For 37 years, the AACR has endeavored through this program to reach out to minority predoctoral and postdoctoral students, trainees, and junior investigators as future cancer researchers. The program was created in an attempt to address the serious problem of lack of minority participation in cancer research by offering young minority students and trainees the opportunity to attend and participate in the Annual Meetings and Special Conferences of the AACR.
The AACR would also like to thank Merck for providing additional funding to support young minority investigators.
Aalaa S. Abdallah, MS, BS
PhD Candidate
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Chicago, Illinois
Santiago Acero-Bedoya, MS, BS
PhD Candidate
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Christopher Andrews, MS, BS
Graduate Student
Tuskegee University
Montgomery, Alabama
Sarah Asemota, BS
Graduate Student
University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Memphis, Tennessee
Alexandra N. Aquino-Acevedo, BS
Graduate Student
Ponce Health Sciences University
Ponce, Puerto Rico
M. Angela Aznar, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nadine L. Belony, BS
Graduate Student
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Heather K. Beasley, MS
Postdoctoral Scholar
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee
LaKendria K. Brown, MS
PhD Candidate
Meharry Medical College
Nashville, Tennessee
Sediqua Sherese Bufford, MS
PhD Student
Morehouse School of Medicine
Atlanta, Georgia
Taaliah Campbell, BS
Graduate Student
Clark Atlanta University
Atlanta, Georgia
Alexis E. Carey, BS
Graduate Student
Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health
Baltimore, Maryland
Mayra Carneiro, MS, BS
PhD Candidate
University of Montreal
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Alexander C. Chacon, MD
Clinical Research Fellow and Resident Physician
University of Rochester Medical Center
Rochester, New York
Onyema G. Chido-Amjuoyi, MD, MPH
Resident Physician
Texas A&M College of Medicine/Christus Good Shepherd Hospital
Longview, Texas
Luisjesus S. Cruz, MS, BS
Graduate Student
San Diego State University
San Diego, California
Ricardo Cordova, MS, BS
Graduate Student
Indiana University of School of Medicine
Indianapolis, Indiana
Leslie. Cuellar-Vite, BS
Graduate Student
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, Ohio
Catherine C. Elix, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Loma Linda University
Loma Linda, California
Mildred Galvez, BA
Medical Student
UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
Los Angeles, California
Dana M. Gant, MS, BS
Graduate Student
North Carolina Central University
Kannapolis, North Carolina
Teklab Gebregiworgis, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
University Health Network
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Jovanka Gencel-Augusto, MS, BS
Graduate Student
UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas
Nicole B. Halmai, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of California, Davis
Davis, California
Andriana Inkoom, BS
PhD Candidate and Graduate Research Assistant
Florida A&M University
Tallahassee, Florida
Kofi K. Khamit-Kush, MS, BA
Graduate Student
Clark Atlanta University
Atlanta, Georgia
Emilee N. Kotnik, BS
Graduate Student
Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
Jonelle K. Lee, MS, BS
PhD Candidate
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Baltimore, Maryland
Melayshia McFadden, BS
PhD Candidate
Morehouse School of Medicine
Atlanta, Georgia
Shannalee R. Martinez, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Ponce Health Sciences University
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Lawrence P. McKinney, MPH, BS
PhD Candidate
Morehouse School of Medicine
Atlanta, Georgia
Matthew A. Murray, BS
Graduate Student
Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut
Sha’Kayla K. Nunez, MS, BS
PhD Candidate
Morehouse School of Medicine
Atlanta, Georgia
Theron Palmer, BS
Graduate Student
John Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, Maryland
Cristina Paz, MS
Graduate Student
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Jaileene Perez-Morales, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center
Temple Terrace, Florida
Mabel G. Perez-Oquendo, BS
Graduate Student
UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas
Gonzalo M. Pinero, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, New York
Catherine M. Pichardo, MA, BA
Graduate Student
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Stephanie Pitts, BA
Graduate Student
John Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, Maryland
Gabriel Prado, BS
Graduate Student
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Alvaro Quintanal-Villalonga, PhD
Research Associate
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, New York
Enrique I. Ramos, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso
El Paso, Texas
Angelina Requa, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Leslimar Rios Colon, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
North Carolina Central University
Durham, North Carolina
Laura Reyes Uribe, MD
Postdoctoral Fellow
UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas
Evelyn S. Sanchez Hernandez, BS
Graduate Student
Loma Linda University
Loma Linda, California
Raquel Santana da Cruz, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Georgetown University
Washington, D.C.
Mitzy J. Santiago Rosario, MS, BS
Graduate Student
University of Puerto Rio
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Robert Schauner, BA
Graduate Student
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Cleveland, Ohio
Tunde Marcus Smith, BS
Graduate Student
Meharry Medical College
Nashville, Tennessee
Zulaida M. Soto Vargas, BS
Graduate Student
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana
Lizeth I. Tamayo, MPH, BA
PhD Candidate
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Kristi Tredway, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
John Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland
Grace E. Velez, BS
Graduate Student
Universidad Central del Caribe
Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Jason A. White, MS
Graduate Student
Tuskegee University
Montgomery, Alabama
Tyler J. Woodard, MD, MEd
Postdoctoral Fellow
Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis, Missouri
Maryl J. Wright, MS, BS
Graudate Student
Tulane University School of Medicine
New Orleans, Lousiana
Corey D. Young, MS
Graduate Student
Morehouse School of Medicine
Atlanta, Georgia