First Cohort Selected for New Postdoctoral Program

April 27, 2016

Four postdoctoral associates receive funding for multidisciplinary projects through college’s Grand Challenges in Biology Postdoctoral Program.


Following a highly competitive application process, four post-doctoral associates were selected to participate in the college’s new Grand Challenges in Biology Postdoctoral Program. Each submitted a research project proposal designed to boost cross-pollination between faculty labs within and beyond the college and spark new multidisciplinary collaborations.

The CBS Grand Challenges in Biology Postdoctoral Program is part of a larger effort by the University to bring researchers from different fields together to address “grand challenges” connected to the environment and health. Four postdoctoral researchers will join the program including:

  • Heath Blackmon Faculty collaborators: David Zarkower (Genetics, Cell Biology and Development) and Yaniv Brandvain (Plant Biology). Blackmon is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the labs of Emma Goldberg (EEB) and Itay Mayrose (Tel Aviv University).

  • Ana Morales-Williams Faculty collaborators: William Harcombe (BioTechnology Institute), Jim Cotner (Ecology, Evolution and Behavior) and Cody Sheik (Large Lakes Observatory). Morales-Williams is currently a doctoral candidate in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology at Iowa State University and a Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network  Graduate Fellow.

  • Courtney Passow Faculty collaborators: Suzanne McGaugh (Ecology, Evolution and Behavior) and Peter Tiffin (Plant Biology). Passow is currently completing her doctorate at Kansas State University.

  • Vanessa Rodrigues Pegos Faculty collaborators: Mikael Elias (Biochemistry, Molecular Biology & Biophysics/BioTechnology Institute) and Bo Hu (Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering). Pegos is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Elias lab.

“Each of the proposals chosen represents the kind of cross-pollination between disciplines and across labs that will help propel this college forward,” says CBS Dean Valery Forbes. “I am excited to see what new insights these collaborations will yield in the months and years to come.”

Over the course of the two-year fellowships, in addition to pursuing their research project the postdoctoral associates will participate in grant proposal development workshops and other professional development activities offered at the University.– Stephanie Xenos


“Each of the proposals chosen represents the kind of cross-pollination between disciplines and across labs that will help propel this college forward." - Valery Forbes