On April 13, 2021 UCLA’s postdoctoral scholars and their mentors were honored for their important contributions to the university’s interrelated missions of research, teaching, and service at the annual Postdoctoral Scholars & Mentors Awards Virtual Ceremony. 

The 2020/21 Chancellor’s Awards for Postdoctoral Research were presented that same day. Of the 884 postdoctoral scholars, 35 were nominated for this prestigious award that recognizes individual research accomplishments that show clear potential to have meaningful and enduring implications in their field. The Postdoctoral Scholars Mentoring Awards were administered by the Postdoctoral Association at UCLA.  The Mentoring Awards honored UCLA faculty members who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in helping postdoctoral scholars develop successful careers.

If you were unable to attend, you can watch the recording of the virtual awards ceremony here.

2020/21 Chancellor’s Award for Postdoctoral Research

Eleven of the 35 nominees were selected to receive the Chancellor’s Award for Postdoctoral Research — a $7,500 prize and a plaque — for their research accomplishments that show clear potential to have meaningful and enduring implications in their field.

Award Recipients:

• Adeyemi Adebiyi, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
• Katherine Chen, Medicine
• Graciel Diamante, Integrative Biology and Physiology
• Lucia Fernandez del Rio, Chemistry and Biochemistry
• Alexa Sadier, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
• Matthias Stangl, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
• Christina Termini, Orthopedic Surgery
• Casey Wong, Anthropology
• Chi-An Yeh, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Shu Zhang, Physics and Astronomy
• Zipeng Zhao, Materials Science and Engineering

Nominees:

• Adeyemi Adebiyi, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
• Rachel Blakey, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
• Katherine Chen, Medicine
• Zachary Cohen, Semel Institute
• Marie Collin, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Graciel Diamante, Integrative Biology and Physiology
• Lucia Fernandez del Rio, Chemistry and Biochemistry
• Adrian Flores, Comparative Literature
• David Gonzalez, Medical – Cardiology
• Erica Grodin, Psychology
• Rongfeng Hu, Biological Chemistry
• Justin Langerman, Biological Chemistry
• Anne Le Goff, Institute of Society and Genetics
• Mona Moieni, Psychology
• Erica Pandolfi, Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology
• Huan Peng, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Dale Prentice, Institute for Carbon Management
• Alexa Sadier, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
• Sandro Satta, Medicine
• Matthias Stangl, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
• Liming Tan, Neurobiology
• Christina Termini, Orthopedic Surgery
• Davis Yuri Torrejon Castro, Medicine
• Aneta Turlik, Chemistry
• Daniel Velez-Ramirez, Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics
• Zhong Wan, Chemistry and Biochemistry
• Chenxi Wang, Computer Science
• Casey Wong, Anthropology
• Shuwang Wu, Materials and Engineering
• Chi-An Yeh, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Shu Zhang, Physics and Astronomy
• Wenyang Zhang, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Zhi Zhang, Integrative Biology and Physiology
• Zipeng Zhao, Materials Science and Engineering
• Shanglin Zhou, Neurobiology

 

2020/21 Postdoctoral Scholars Mentoring Award

We also honored UCLA faculty members who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in helping postdoctoral scholars develop successful careers.

Award Recipients:

• Clarice Aiello, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Elaine Hsiao, Integrative Biology and Physiology

Nominees:

• Clarice Aiello, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Patrick Allard, Institute for Society and Genetics
• Amander Clark, Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology
• Naomi Eisenberger, Psychology
• Chandra Ford, Community Health Sciences
• Barbara Fuchs, Spanish and Portuguese
• Eric Hoek, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Elaine Hsiao, Integrative Biology and Physiology
• Alicia Izquierdo, Psychology
• David Jassby, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Eleanor Kaufman, Comparative Literature
• Jasper Kok, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
• Hannah Landecker, Institute for Society and Genetics
• Anna Lau, Psychology
• Elizabeth Laugeson, Psychiatry
• Sung-Jae Lee, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
• James Lloyd-Smith, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
• Paul Macey, Nursing 
• Shaily Mahendra, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Paul Micevych, Neurobiology
• David Miklowitz, Psychiatry
• Elizabetha Nemeth, Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care
• James Rosenzweig, Physics and Astronomy
• Marc Suchard, Biostatistics, Computational Medicine and Human Genetics

2020/21 Co-Sponsors

We’d like to extend deep appreciation to our esteemed co-sponsors:

• Roger Wakimoto, Vice Chancellor for Research
• Antonio Bernardo, Dean, Anderson School of Management
• Ronald Brookmeyer, Dean, Fielding School of Public Health
• Christina Christie, Interim Dean, Graduate School of Education & Information Studies
• Cindy Fan, Vice Provost, International Studies & Global Engagement
• Miguel A. Garcia-Garibay, Dean, Physical Sciences
• Darnell Hunt, Dean, Social Sciences
• Tracy Johnson, Dean, Life Sciences
• Paul H. Krebsbach, Dean, School of Dentistry
• Kelsey Martin, Dean, David Geffen School of Medicine
• Jayathi Murthy, Dean, Henry Samueli School of Engineering & Applied Science
• Linda Sarna, Dean & Chair, School of Nursing
• David Schaberg, Dean, Humanities
• Alexander S. Young, Interim Chair and Director, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior

Past Award Recipients

Past Chancellor’s Award for Postdoctoral Research recipients

Past Postdoctoral Mentoring Award recipients

Video Ceremony

Watch a video of the 2020/21 Chancellor’s Awards for Postdoctoral Research awards ceremony.

Digital Program

View the digital program for the 2020/21 Chancellor’s Awards for Postdoctoral Research.