Distinguished Scholar Award
The Distinguished Scholar Award recognizes the continued academic and professional success of ENDURE-BPNP alumni that serve as inspiration for future generations of ENDURE-BPNP scholars.
Every year, an ENDURE-BPNP alumnus will be selected from direct nominations. The selection process is based on the following criteria:
- Academic accomplishments: advancement to degree (i.e., PhD candidacy, Doctoral Dissertation completion, Postdoctoral position, MD or MD/PhD degree advancement, etc.).
- Awards: travel awards, NRSA fellowships, academic recognitions, teaching awards, professional organization awards and any other distinctions or honorifics.
- Publications: number/quality of published peer-reviewed research articles as first author and/or co-author.
- Community service: participation in professional organizations, institutional committees and/or societal contributions (e.g., presentations or volunteering at community-based organizations).
The selected ENDURE-BPNP alumnus is invited as the keynote speaker at the end of summer Lab Coat Ceremony and receives a commemorative plaque.
Cristina M. Rivera Quiles
2023 Distinguished Scholar Award Recipient
Cristina Rivera Quiles was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where she received her BS in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey. During her undergraduate education she did research with Dr. Gina Leinninger’s team at Michigan State University for two summers and a fall semester through MSU’s BPNP ENDURE program, which led to her authorship on two published research papers. She also worked with Dr. Elizabeth Engle for two summers as part of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute ExROP program at Harvard Medical School.
Cristina joined the Neuroscience Doctoral at Michigan State University in Fall of 2020 and is completing her dissertation research in the lab of Dr. Michelle Mazei-Robison. Her dissertation research investigates the role of ventral tegmental area neuropeptides in morphine behaviors by using mouse models to gain a better understanding of opioid use disorder. Cristina has received numerous awards including an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP) and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Fellowship to support her doctoral research and career development.
In addition to her lab work, Cristina is president of the Neuroscience Program’s Graduate Student Council and has volunteered in multiple outreach committees and programs. Cristina is passionately committed to promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, demystifying the graduate school experience, and to increasing the representation of historically excluded minorities in STEM. In her spare time, Cristina enjoys spending time with her dog, playing tennis, and going to the movies.
Shantée N. Ayala-Rosario
2023 Distinguished Scholar Award Recipient
Shantée N. Ayala-Rosario completed her undergraduate studies at Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Bayamón, PR, in the Biotechnology. As an undergraduate she participated in two summer research programs and a fall semester at MSU between 2016-2017 as a BPNP scholar. Since 2020, she joined the Ph.D. program in Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology at University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA).
In addition to co-authored two peer-reviewed articles, Shantée has received many awards and fellowships, including Society of Toxicology (SOT) Undergraduate Diversity Program travel award, Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science Travel scholarship, First Place Poster Presentation UCLA BRI-SURE Summer Program (August 2019), Eugene V. Cota – Robles UCLA Graduate Division diversity fellowship (September 2020), Honorable Mention National Science Foundation GRFP (March 2021), and Inaugural Neuroscience and Society Fellowship UCLA Dana Foundation Planning Group (January 2023).
Shantée is engaged in outreach and mentoring activity within the scientific community and beyond. She has a blog call “Science, Failure, and Soul” (sciencefailureandsoul.com), UCLA Teaching Assistant for Cellular and Systems Neuroscience. She is also an active participant in the Microbiology Student Chapter: University of Puerto Rico, Society of Women Engineers, American Chemical Society, Society of Students United for Science and National Neuroscience Student Association. Shantée said “MSU showed me that: 1. Opportunities existed for all, 2. What it means to be and practice resiliency, 3. The importance of great mentorship and 4. How pivotal community is to our growth and success.”
Wilmarie Morales-Soto
2022 Distinguished Scholar Award Recipient
Wilmarie started her research career as an undergraduate at UPR Cayey where she was awarded the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Undergraduate Research Fellowship working under the mentorship of Dr. Javier Arce-Nazario studying the hydrologic effects of land use at an island-wide scale utilizing spatial modeling developed with Geographic Information Systems (GIS). She completed two summer research internships at MSU as part of the ENDURE BPNP and the Fall Semester, where she continued working on the molecular process in inflammation under the mentorship of Dr. Brian Gulbransen. After a successful Fall Semester, Wilmarie returned to Puerto Rico to complete her BS in the Department of Biology at the UPR-Cayey, where she graduated with Honors. Wilmarie returned to MSU as a graduate student in the Neuroscience Program and continued her research work with the guidance and mentorship of Dr. Brian Gulbransen. Since joining the Neuroscience Program in 2017, Wilmarie has published 2 peer-reviewed articles as first author and 2 more as co-author. Wilmarie has won important fellowships in recognition of her talent and potential as aspiring neuroscientist, including the Michigan State University Academic Achievement Graduate Assistantship, and Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship.
In addition, Wilmarie won 8 travels awards and 3 presentation awards, such as SACNAS Student Presentation Award, Presentation Award at the NEURAL Neuroscience Roadmap Scholars Annual Meeting, Young Investigator Forum Award, American Neurogastroenterology, and Motility Society Meeting.
