Communication Challenge Awards
Fellows' Career Development
Communication Challenge Awards
Fellows' Career Development

NIEHS fellows participate in the NIEHS Big Picture, Small Talk Communication Challenge, during which they present a plain-language speech about their research. The competitors have only three minutes to impress the audience with the broader impact their work may have on human health and describe how training at NIEHS has figured in their career development. Each of the postdoctoral, predoctoral, and postbaccalaureate awardees get $1,500 toward professional development.
Postdoctoral/Predoctoral Awardees
2023 Awardees

Kathryn Dalton, Ph.D., V.M.D., M.P.H., Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) postdoctoral fellow in the Epidemiology Branch, mentored by Stephanie J. London, M.D., Dr.P.H.

Mackenzie Dickson, Ph.D., Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) postdoctoral fellow in the Reproductive & Developmental Biology Laboratory, mentored by Francesco J. Demayo, Ph.D.

Jennifer Woo, Ph.D., M.P.H., Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) postdoctoral fellow in the Epidemiology Branch, mentored by Dale Sandler, Ph.D.
2022 Awardees

Ayland Letsinger, Ph.D., Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) postdoctoral fellow in the Neurobiology Laboratory, mentored by Jerry Yakel, Ph.D. Ayland Letsinger, Ph.D., was NIEHS' representative to the NIH-wide Communication Challenge, where he placed third in the competition.

Ciro Amato, Ph.D., IRTA postdoctoral fellow in the Reproductive and Developmental Biology Laboratory, mentored by Humphrey Yao, Ph.D.

Paige Bommarito, Ph.D., IRTA postdoctoral fellow in the Epidemiology Branch, mentored by Kelly Ferguson, Ph.D.
2021 Awardees

Meredith Frazier, Ph.D., Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) postdoctoral fellow in the Signal Transduction Laboratory, mentored by Robin Stanley, Ph.D.

Cassandra Hayne, Ph.D., IRTA postdoctoral fellow in the Signal Transduction Laboratory, mentored by Robin Stanley, Ph.D.

Virginia Savy, Ph.D., visiting postdoctoral fellow in the Reproductive and Developmental Biology Laboratory, mentored by Carmen Williams, M.D., Ph.D.
Postbaccalaureate Awardees
2023 Awardees

Molly Rogers, Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) post baccalaureate fellow in the Biostatistics & Computational Biology Branch, mentored by Mary V. Diaz Santana, Ph.D.
2022 Awardees

Diane Youngstrom, IRTA postbaccalaureate fellow in the Neurobiology Laboratory, mentored by Jerry Yakel, Ph.D.
2021 Awardees

Kamiya Bridges, IRTA postbaccalaureate fellow in the Reproductive and Developmental Biology Laboratory, mentored by Humphrey Yao, Ph.D.
Summer Intern Awardees
2023 Awardees

Isabella Patterson, Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) summer intern in the Epigenetics & Stem Cell Biology Laboratory, mentored by Trevor K. Archer, Ph.D.
2022 Awardees

Kiran Kelly-Rajan, Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) summer intern in the Division of Translational Toxicology mentored by Jean Harry, Ph.D.

Sharonda Lovett, Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) summer intern in the Epidemiology Branch mentored by Dale Sandler, Ph.D.

Ashley Phoenix, Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) summer intern in the Neurobiology Laboratory mentored by Serena Dudek, Ph.D.
2019 Awardees

Emma Garval, Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) summer intern in the Epidemiology Branch, mentored by Jacob Kresovich, Ph.D., and Jack Taylor, Ph.D.

Vennela Avula Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) summer intern in the Epigenetics and Stem Cell Biology Laboratory, mentored by Jackson Hoffman, Ph.D., and Trevor Archer, Ph.D.

Caitlin Mehta, Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) summer intern in the Immunity, Inflammation, and Disease Laboratory, mentored by David Scoville, Ph.D., and Anton Jetten, Ph.D.
Related Topics
Communication Challenge Awards
Fellow of the Year
Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE)
Mentor of the Year
Miscellaneous Awards
NIH Postbac Poster Day Awards
NIH Summer Mentor Award
Science Days Awards
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