The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has chosen nine students for its 2013 Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study. The students receive $46,500 per year, for up to four years, for doctoral studies in the life sciences. The fellowships are aimed at increasing diversity among university faculty in the life sciences.
The fellowships were established in 2004 to honor the late James H. Gilliam Jr., a charter trustee of the institute. To date the institute has given out more than $13 million in financial aid for the program. Some 62 students have been named Gilliam Fellows since the program began. All fellows have either earned a Ph.D. or are still enrolled in Ph.D. programs.
Two of the nine Gilliam Fellows for 2013 are African Americans.
Jawara Allen is a graduate of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He is currently completing a post-baccalaureate research project at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Kayla Lee is a senior at Hampton University in Virginia who is majoring in genetics and molecular biology. She will enroll in graduate school at Harvard University this fall.
