Graduate Pathway for Scholars Program Welcomes 2026 Cohort

Fourteen people pose for a group portrait in front of a pull-down projection screen displaying the UAlbany logo. All are smiling and six are holding white paper certificates.
The Graduate Pathway for Scholars Fellows and honorable mention candidates pose with their faculty mentors. (Photo by Ethan Krupa)

By Erin Frick

ALBANY, N.Y. (Feb. 5, 2026) — Six exceptional early-career STEM researchers shared their work as part of the Graduate Pathway for Scholars program at a presentation and awards ceremony held last week in the D’Ambra Auditorium in the Life Science Research Building. Representing the Departments of Biological Sciences and Chemistry, the speakers comprised the 2025 and 2026 cohorts of the Graduate Pathway for Scholars program, including both Fellows and honorable mention candidates. 

The Graduate Pathway for Scholars program is designed to help students who receive their PhDs in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) disciplines at UAlbany land faculty-track positions here on campus after completing post-doctoral studies elsewhere.

Each year since its inception in 2024, two PhD students have been inducted into the program as fellows while two more PhD students have been recognized with honorable mention designations. 

PhD students Joey Tavarez, from the Department of Biological Sciences, and Ibrahim Adelakun, from the Department of Chemistry, were lauded last week as the program's newest inductees. Dylan Ehrbar and Asmer Aliyeva, both PhD students in the Department of Biological Sciences, were recognized with honorable mentions. 

“Our recent Graduate Pathway for Scholars research symposium and award ceremony served as a testament to the program’s strength and longevity,” said Williams-Raycheff Endowed Professor and Department of Biological Sciences Chair Melinda Larsen. “Bringing past inductees together to share their research alongside the latest cohort of fellows demonstrates the exact sort of pipeline that we are looking to grow. We’re working to build a community that nurtures early-career PhD researchers and helps them strengthen the personal and professional connections that make UAlbany a true academic ‘home’ — a place with strong supports and opportunities that they will want to return to.”   

Participants in the Graduate Pathway for Scholars Program receive a monetary award as well as access to mentoring relationships, experiential learning and opportunities to share their research with senior academic peers.

“The GPS Fellowship reflects UAlbany’s deep commitment to broadening participation in the academic workforce,” said Jeanette Altarriba, dean of UAlbany's College of Arts and Sciences and professor of psychology, at the event. “Its central mission is to expand opportunities for students from underrepresented and underserved backgrounds while fostering long-term connections between Fellows and the University. Through this program, we aim not only to support students during their doctoral training, but also to encourage them to consider returning to UAlbany as faculty members following their postdoctoral experience.”

Michelle Urman is a 2025 Graduate Pathway for Scholars Fellow and PhD candidate in the lab of ChangHwan Lee.

“As a GPS fellow, I have been able to serve as a panelist for the university's BILPOC Lifting, Climbing, and Thriving Conference where we presented our research among distinguished members from all disciplines and departments,” said Urman, who chairs the STEM NOW (Nourishing Opportunities for Women) group at UAlbany. “I also had the chance to attend an international conference to create connections and network to help advance my future career in academia. As I am close to graduating, I hope to see this program continue to flourish and maintain a network of faculty and graduate students at UAlbany.”

Graduate Pathway for Scholars founder and Distinguished Professor Marlene Belfort explained that the young program is gaining momentum with plans to expand. While currently open to students in the Departments of Biology, Chemistry and Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, GPS program committee members are working to broaden eligibility to all STEM departments by 2027. 

“The Graduate Pathway for Scholars program has been able to flourish thanks to generous support from the Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, as well as the UAlbany Foundation and the Graduate School,” said Belfort, who also serves as senior advisor to the RNA Institute. “With this support, we are aiming to continue raising funds that will eventually help create new faculty positions at UAlbany that GPS Fellows could someday step into.”

Last week’s research presentation and award ceremony included talks from six Graduate Pathway for Scholars program participants. Here's a look at the topics they presented on: 

2026 Graduate Pathway for Scholars Fellows

  • Joey Tavarez — “Mapping How Fibroblasts Respond to Tissue Injury and Orchestrate Tissue Remodeling” — mentored by Melinda Larsen 
  • Ibrahim Adelakun — “Towards Regulating Biological Activities with Azobenzene Modified Nucleotides” — mentored by Ting Wang

2026 Honorable Mention Recipients

  • Dylan Ehrbar — “Significant Shifts in Codon Usage Bias Associated with Age and Age-Related Diseases” — mentored by Tom Begley 
  • Asmer Aliyeva — “Dysregulation of Alternative Splicing in CAG Repeat Expansion Spinocerebellar Ataxias” — mentored by Andy Berglund 

Featured Past GPS Awardees

  • Michelle Urman (Biological Sciences), 2025 GPS Fellow —“Worms and Women in STEM: A Journey of Research and Discovery” — mentored by ChangHwan Lee
  • Andrew Muñoz Gamba (Biological Sciences), 2025 Honorable Mention —
    “Zika Virus Adaptation in Mosquito and Mammalian Hosts” — mentored by Cara Pager

The Graduate Pathways for Scholars program is administered by Belfort and Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Cara Pager, together with fellows selected by committee members from the Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences.