CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Three graduate students at the University of Illinois have won fellowships from the American Association of University Women for the 2012-2013 academic year to further their graduate studies at Illinois.
Hongmei Li, a postdoctoral research associate in entomology, received the American Fellowship, awarded to U.S. citizens. Li, of Tianjin, China, will use her $20,000 fellowship to continue her research on the molecular basis of social behaviors and gene function in the honey bee and the fruit fly.
Michele Jimenez de Tavarez, a physician and internal medicine specialist pursuing a doctorate in community health, received a $20,000 International Fellowship, awarded to women who are not U.S. citizens. Jimenez de Tavarez, of Santiago, Dominican Republic, is focusing her research on identifying the metabolic risk factors in Latinos/Latinas and the gender disparities for metabolic risk-related diseases such as diabetes and certain types of cancer. She is also interested in communicable diseases that have characteristics of chronic conditions, such as HIV/AIDS.
Samantha Rich, of Seattle, a master's degree student in natural resources and environmental sciences, earned a Career Development Grant, given to women preparing to advance or change careers or re-enter the work force. Her grant is for $6,005. In her primary research, Rich is uncovering the role of plant material in the nearshore of the recently undammed Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state.
In addition to these three types of awards, the AAUW also awards Selected Professions Fellowships to women pursuing graduate degrees in disciplines in which women have been underrepresented.
"AAUW has a long history of helping women break through barriers, and one of its key ways of doing this is through the awarding of fellowships to some of the nation's most talented graduate students and postdoctoral researchers," said Ken Vickery, the director of external fellowships in the U. of I. Graduate College.
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