Learn about current and past awardees of the Eddie Méndez Scholar Award.
Current Awardees
In July 2025, eight postdoctoral awardees were honored as Méndez Scholars at the annual symposium. This cohort of scientists come from research institutions across the United States. The awardees' areas of expertise include HIV, therapeutic targeting for ovarian cancer, metabolic regulation of cancer and gene editing.
Almudena Chaves Pérez, PhD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Caitlin Cornell, PhD
UC Berkeley
Leandro Fernández-García, PhD
University of Virginia School of Medicine
Nicole Halmai, PhD
UC Davis
Elizabeth Kaweesa, PhD
University of Illinois Chicago
Megan E. Meuser, PhD
Yale University
Sarah Elisabeth Pierce, PhD
Broad Institute
Luis Cedeño-Rosario, PhD
University of Utah - Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine
In July 2024, eight recipients of the Méndez Scholar Award were announced. The eight postdoctoral awardees come from research institutions across the United States and are experts in a range of subjects including cancer immunology, fungal model systems and craniofacial development.
Erik Kimble, MD
Current position: Research Associate / Physician
Division of Hematology and Oncology
University of Washington / Fred Hutch Cancer Center
Isaac Lopéz-Moyado, PhD
Current position: Instructor
La Jolla Institute for Immunology
Christopher Medina, PhD
Current position: Postdoctoral fellow
Emory University
Edgar Medina, PhD
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Stefany Moreno-Gámez, PhD
Current position: Postdoctoral fellow
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M. Fernanda Palominos, PhD
Current position: Postdoctoral research fellow
UC Berkeley
Nick Salisbury, PhD
Current position: Postdoctoral fellow
Fred Hutch Cancer Center
Akanksha Thawani, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
Columbia University
Thawani Lab
In October 2023, eight recipients of the Méndez Scholar Award were named. Their research interests include tumor interactions with the immune system, cell signaling in obesity and links between parasites and cancer.
Gina Gallego Lopez, PhD
Current position: Assistant Scientist
Morgridge Institute for Research
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Juliana Hofstatter Azambuja, PhD
Current position: Postdoctoral fellow
University of Pittsburgh
Johanna Melo-Cardenas, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor
Feinberg School of Medicine
Carlos Mendez-Dorantes, PhD
Current position: Postdoctoral fellow
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Kari Price, PhD
Current position: Research Grant Program Officer
Office of Grant Development
UC Davis
Maritza Puray-Chavez, PhD
Current position: Investigator
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
Tigist Tamir, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor
UNC School of Medicine
Christine Vazquez, PhD
Current position: Prinicipal Scientist
GSK
In September 2022, 10 Méndez Scholar Awardees traveled to Seattle to visit Fred Hutch, meet with faculty, and present their research. Their areas of research included the study of emerging new coronaviruses, the identification of regulators of early-stage lung cancer, and the impact of social and environmental factors on tumor development.
María Angélica Bravo Núñez, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor
Molecular Biology & Genetics Department
Cornell University
Lesley Chapman Hannah, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor
College of Graduate Studies
Northeast Ohio Medical University
Aileen Fernandez, PhD
Current position: Liquid Product Specialist
Caris Life Sciences
Jaye Gardiner, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor
Tufts University
Luis Hernandez-Nunez, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
Stanfard University
Alexis Jaramillo Caragena, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor
Duke Pathology
Duke University School of Medicine
Brittany Lord, PhD
Current Position: Assistant Professor
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Johns Hopkins University
David Martinez, PhD
Current Position: Assistant Professor
Immunobiology
Yale University
Aaron Moye, PhD
Current position: Chief Operating Officer
DoriNano
Daniel Fernando Zegarra-Ruiz, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor
Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology
University of Virginia
In May 2021, 12 recipients of the Méndez Scholar Award were named. Their areas of research include understanding the microbiome and how it relates to cancer and infectious diseases, biobehavioral reasons for health disparities in breast cancer, and studies of SARS-CoV-2 function and immune response. The 2021 symposium was held virtually in October due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gretchen M. Alicea, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor
University of Maryland Baltimore County
Alicea Lab
David Castillo-Azofeifa, PhD
Current position: Principal Scientist
Genentech
Victor S. Cortez, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor
Department of Immunology
University of Pittsburgh
Carlos Gonzalez, PhD
Current position: Data Scientist
Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network Stanford University
Alex J. Guseman, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of California, San Diego
Tikvah (Tiki) Hayes, PhD
Current Position: Assistant Professor
Molecular and Medical Pharmacology
University of California, Los Angeles
Alan Paul Lombard, PhD
Current Position: Assistant Professor
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine
Department of Urologic Surgery
University of California, Davis School of Medicine
Giovanny Joel Martínez-Colón, PhD
Current position: Senior Scientist II
Merk
Jesús A. Romo, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor
Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
The University of Texas at San Antonio
Cathy Samayoa, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
San Francisco State University
Katia Troha, PhD
Current position: Postdoctoral fellow
Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Valerie A. Tornini, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor
Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology
University of California, Los Angeles
Tornini Lab
In May 2020, nine recipients of the Méndez Scholar Award were announced. Their research interests include T cell therapies, cancer outcomes among HIV-positive patients, health disparities in American Indians, and acute myeloid leukemia therapies. The 2020 symposium was held virtually in November due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Daniel Arango, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor
Pharmacology
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Arango Lab
Pau Castel, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology
New York University Grossman School of Medicine
Marc A. Emerson, PhD, MPH
Current position: Assistant Professor
Department of Epidemiology
Gillings School of Global Public Health
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Jami R. Erickson, PhD
Senior Scientist II
AbbVie Inc
Melissa Fernandez-de Céspedes, PhD, MSc
Current position: Executive Director
Florida Native Plant Society
Nicholas C. Gómez, PhD
Current position: Associate Director of Computational Genomics
Altius Institute for Biomedical Sciences
Jessica Yasmine Islam, PhD, MPH
Current position: Assistant Professor
Cancer Epidemiology
Moffitt Cancer Center
Islam Lab
Yadira M. Soto-Feliciano, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor of Biology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research
Christina M. Termini, PhD
Current position: Assistant Professor
Translational Science and Therapeutics Division
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Termini Lab
In May 2019, the first seven recipients of the Méndez Scholar Award were named, coming from universities and cancer research centers around the United States. They gathered at Fred Hutch’s campus in June of 2019.
Hugo Arellano-Santoyo, PhD
Current position: Senior Director of Coporate Development
RAVen (RA Ventures)
Valerie Cortez
Current position: Assistant Professor
Department of Molecule, Cell & Developmental Biology
University of California, Santa Cruz
Ahmed Diab
Current position: Assistant Professor
Department of Otorhinolaryngology
University of Pennsylvania
Carlos Gil del Alcazar
Current position: Lab head
Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research
Jemila Kester
Current position: Associate Head of Research
Biomedicine and Medical Diagnostics
Auckland University of Technology
Colles Price
Current position: Scientific Associate Director
Takeda Oncology
Shaila Strayhorn-Carter
Current position: Assistant Professor
School of Health and Applied Human Sciences
University of North Carolina, Wilmington