Seventeen NIEHS trainees received the 2026 Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE), an annual competition that honors the best work of National Institutes of Health (NIH) intramural research fellows. NIEHS tied for second in number of awardees among the NIH’s 27 Institutes and Centers.
Fellows submit abstracts for review, which are judged on scientific merit, originality, experimental design, and overall presentation (see sidebar). Those ranked in the top 25% of scores within each of 76 study sections are recognized as FARE winners. They receive a $1,500 professional development award to pay for travel to a scientific meeting to present their work.
NIEHS has historically fared well in the competition. This year, institute researchers submitted 74 of the 904 total abstracts (877 of which were approved by the judges).
“The great showing by our trainees and their mentors demonstrates the value of our institute’s research to the larger NIH community,” remarked NIEHS Scientific Director Darryl Zeldin, M.D.
Learn more about all 17 NIEHS FARE 2026 awardees and the titles of their research abstracts in the slideshow below.
Importance of mentors
The important role of mentorship is recognized by the FARE process. Two NIEHS researchers mentored two 2026 FARE awardees each.
Guang Hu, Ph.D., a senior investigator who heads the Stem Cell Biology Group, mentored the following awardees.
- Xiaosu Miao, Ph.D., whose abstract was titled, “Ccr4-Not-mediated mRNA deadenylation sustains the pluripotency in stem cells.”
- Ammad Shaukat, Ph.D., whose abstract was titled, “Proximity labeling identified novel INO80-interacting factors that are required for pluripotency maintenance.”
Robin Stanley, Ph.D., a Stadtman Investigator who heads the Nucleolar Integrity Group, mentored the following awardees.
- Jacob Gordon, Ph.D., whose abstract was titled, “Crystal structure of human SENP3-PELP1 complex visualizes a novel mechanism of SUMO protease activation.”
- Zoe Wright, Ph.D., whose abstract was titled, “SARS-CoV-2 protein Nsp15 relies on spontaneous base flipping to help select its targets in viral RNA.”
“I am very proud of Jacob, a three-time winner, and Zoe for receiving FARE awards this year,” said Stanley. “Not only are they both exceptional scientists, but they are both outstanding scientific presenters.”
This is the 31st year of the FARE competition. Over the last five years, several NIEHS trainees have received multiple awards. Among this year’s awardees, the following individuals also were honored in previous years.
- Martin Estermann, Ph.D. (2025), Reproductive Developmental Biology Group
- Jacob Gordon, Ph.D. (2025, 2023), Nucleolar Integrity Group
- Ankit Gupta, Ph.D. (2023), Male Reproduction and RNA Biology Group
- Jennifer Ish, Ph.D. (2024), Environment and Cancer Epidemiology Group
- Sookjin Moon, Ph.D. (2024), Clinical Investigation of Host Defense Group
- Sukanya Saha, Ph.D. (2024, 2022), In Vivo Neurobiology Group
The FARE award is sponsored by the NIH Fellows Committee, the Scientific Directors, and the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education, and is funded by the Scientific Directors. Registration for the annual FARE competition opens each February.
Rajesh Bhardwaj, Ph.D., mentored by Anant Parekh, D.Phil., Calcium Signaling in Health and Disease Group, submitted an abstract titled, “Mitochondrial calcium channel MCU controls cellular signaling and development of psoriasis.” (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
Tancia Bradshaw, Ph.D., mentored by Francesco DeMayo, Ph.D., Reproductive and Developmental Biology Laboratory, submitted an abstract titled, “Endometrial stromal PGR signaling affects pregnancy and glandular hormone responsiveness in the uterus.” (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
Martin Estermann, Ph.D., mentored by Humphrey Yao, Ph.D., Reproductive and Developmental Biology Laboratory, submitted an abstract titled, “Metabolic coupling in the fetal testis: Glycolytic Sertoli cells support oxidative germ cells through lactate shuttling.” Estermann also won last year. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
Jacob Gordon, Ph.D., mentored by Robin Stanley, Ph.D., Nucleolar Integrity Group, submitted an abstract titled, “Crystal structure of human SENP3-PELP1 complex visualizes a novel mechanism of SUMO protease activation.” Gordon also won for 2023 and 2025. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
Ankit Gupta, Ph.D., mentored by Marcos Morgan, Ph.D., Male Reproduction and RNA Biology Group, submitted an abstract titled, “Tissue-specific RNA decay may hold the key to coronavirus persistence in Long COVID.” Gupta also won for 2023. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
Jennifer Ish, Ph.D., mentored by Alexandra White, Ph.D., Environment and Cancer Epidemiology Group, submitted an abstract titled, “Long-term exposure to wildfire smoke and breast cancer incidence among California women.” Ish also won for 2024. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
Jiaqi Li, Ph.D., mentored by Benedict Anchang, Ph.D., Biostatistics and Computational Biology Branch, submitted an abstract titled, “PHENO-Dex: Mapping dynamic drug responses to predict tumor heterogeneity and resistance.” (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
Amir Lueth, Ph.D., mentored by Kelly Ferguson, Ph.D., Perinatal and Early Life Epidemiology Group, submitted an abstract titled, “Evaluating the mediating role of gestational phthalate exposure biomarkers in the associations between race and ethnicity and birthweight.” (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
Eva Marques, Ph.D., mentored by Kyle Messier, Ph.D., Spatiotemporal Exposures and Toxicology Group, submitted an abstract titled, “Heat stress exposure assessment in urban areas: A crowdsourcing approach with spatiotemporal Bayesian inference.” (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
Xiaosu Miao, Ph.D., mentored by Guang Hu, Ph.D., Stem Cell Biology Group, submitted an abstract titled, “Ccr4-Not-mediated mRNA deadenylation sustains the pluripotency in stem cells.” (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
Sookjin Moon, Ph.D., mentored by Michael Fessler, M.D., Clinical Investigation of Host Defense Group, submitted an abstract titled, “Flotillin-2 increases TCR signaling threshold to suppress sub-optimal CD8⁺ T cell activation, effector differentiation, and anti-tumor immunity in a dendritic cell-dependent manner.” Moon also won for 2024. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
Anastasia Robinson, Ph.D., mentored by John Cidlowski, Ph.D., Molecular Endocrinology Group, submitted an abstract titled, “Heterodimerization of steroidal nuclear receptor: GR and ER.” (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
Sukanya Saha, Ph.D., mentored by Guohong Cui, M.D., Ph.D., In Vivo Neurobiology Group, submitted an abstract titled, “Bridging the cholinergic and β-amyloid hypotheses of Alzheimer’s disease.” Saha also won for 2022 and 2024. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
Ammad Shaukat, Ph.D., mentored by Guang Hu, Ph.D., Stem Cell Biology Group, submitted an abstract titled, “Proximity labeling identified novel INO80-interacting factors that are required for pluripotency maintenance.” (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
Asmita Singh, Ph.D., mentored by Carlos Guardia, Ph.D., Placental Cell Biology Group, submitted an abstract titled, “Disrupted trafficking in autophagy-deficient cells: Implications for extracellular vesicle (EV) biogenesis.” (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
Zoe Wright, Ph.D., mentored by Robin Stanley, Ph.D., Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory, submitted an abstract titled, “SARS-CoV-2 protein Nsp15 relies on spontaneous base flipping to help select its targets in viral RNA.” (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
Rebecca Yeboah, Ph.D., mentored by Trevor Archer, Ph.D., Chromatin and Gene Expression Group, submitted an abstract titled, “Impact of donor-specific epigenetic signatures on iPSC reprograming.” (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS)
(John Yewell is a contract writer for the NIEHS Office of Communications and Public Liaison.)
