News and
 Announcements

Four rising second year Chemical Biology students, Samantha De Salle, Sarah Kearns, Attabey Rodriguez-Benitez, and Jorge Sandoval, have been awarded Chemistry Biology Interface Training Program (CBITP) Fellowships. Congratulations! 

Ten Program in Chemical Biology Ph.D. students - Alex Ayoub, Anthony Balistreri Jorge Becerra, Scott Campit, Monika Franco, Tyler Lefevre, Jason Liu, Sydney Rosenblum, and Lara Zetzsche - and three PhD students outside the department - Jennifer Bohn (BiolChem), Stephanie Chun (Chem), and Amy Fraley (MedChem) - have been chosen to receive new GAANN Fellowships this year. 

The Program in Chemical Biology was awarded a Dept of Education training grant in the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need program (GAANN). The goal of this program is to provide students with specific experience and training in education, particularly to prepare students for faculty careers at the interface of Chemistry and Biology.  Congratulations everyone! 

Rising second year Chemical Biology student, Emily Sherman, of Professor Amanda Garner's laboratory, has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship for 2017. Congratulations, Emily! 

Karson Kump, rising 2nd year PhD student in the Nikolovska-Coleska laboratory, was accepted into the Training Program in Translational Research (TPTR)! Congratulations, Karson! 

Anna Mapp, Edwin Vedejs Collegiate Professor of Chemistry, professor of chemistry, LSA; director of the Program in Chemical Biology; and research professor, Life Sciences Institute, works tirelessly to enhance student diversity at U-M.

Mapp directs the interdepartmental graduate program, the Program in Chemical Biology. Since its inception, it has created and implemented policies and procedures for enrolling cohorts of graduate students from traditionally underrepresented areas.

Due to Mapp and her team's efforts, in fall 2016, 25 percent of the Ph.D. students and 47 percent of the master's degree students were underrepresented minorities and about half of the Ph.D. students identified as female.

"Diversity in the Chemical Biology graduate program is a direct consequence of Professor Mapp's commitment to diversity and personal efforts in recruiting and supporting underrepresented students in Chemical Biology," wrote Rackham Graduate School Dean Carol A. Fierke and Associate Dean Peter Hitchcock.

Mapp calls or meets every master's program applicant to discuss their motivations and goals. Under her leadership, the chemical biology program has expanded its offerings to include special first-year fellowships that have aided in recruiting the best students in chemical biology to U-M.

When students are accepted, Mapp tailors curricula to fit their individual needs and she provides academic, personal and professional support to students.

Mapp received a Rackham Distinguished Graduate Mentorship Award in 2014 for her outstanding mentoring skills, and she serves as the Rackham Faculty Ally for Diversity in Graduate Education for the Program in Chemical Biology. She is the co-principal investigator for a Rackham Faculty Allies Diversity grant through the Department of Chemistry that aims to increase the diversity of the department's applicant pool by building relationships with four historically black colleges and universities.  

Mapp was a lead faculty representative on the Life Sciences Institute's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Strategic Planning Team and helped spearhead the creation and rollout of the institute's first-ever work climate survey.

From the University of Michigan Record

http://record.umich.edu/articles/seven-receive-2017-harold-r-johnson-div...

On April 28, 2017 we celebrated our newest class of MS Cancer Chemical Biology graduates!