Samara Reck-Peterson’s research focuses on molecular machines—the macromolecules that transport intercellular compartments. Her work reveals how these life-essential mechanisms operate at molecular, cellular, and organismal scales. As a 2009 Rita Allen Scholar, she found the freedom to be creative in her research—exploring connections between “the cellular interstate system” and human diseases such as Parkinson's—and to take risks in pursuit of discovery.

Applications for the 2023 Rita Allen Foundation Award in Pain are open through December 15, 2022.

“I didn’t really know what a lab was or what research was until I got into college,” says Jeremy Dittman. As he approached the end of his freshman year at Stanford University, Dittman wasn’t sure of his career plans or even his summer plans until he had a lucky encounter with a friend in his dorm. “One of my dormmates was really into research, and he convinced me to go find a lab for the summer. His dad is a genetics professor at the University of California, San Diego—I guess that sort of ran in the family there. He was the one who inspired me to give research a try, and then I just loved it! I was hooked from that point on.”

Sohail Tavazoie grew up in Utah after his family immigrated to the United States from Iran, escaping the Iran-Iraq war. As his parents created a new life for their family, working at a computer disk manufacturing start-up, Tavazoie and his siblings attended the local school system and adjusted to their new home. However, there was something that remained as a constant for him amongst these changes. "I have been captivated by science and science fiction for as long as I remember. My father was an engineer and my mother a teacher. They always took extra time to teach us and to provide rationales for their answers,” he remembers.

Seena Ajit had reached a crossroads in her career. She was working at the pharmaceutical company Wyeth, but what really excited her was the microRNA research she had been pursuing on the side. At an inflection point, she attended a meeting of the Keystone Symposia on molecular and cellular biology, where she met the Chair of the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology at Drexel University College of Medicine James Barret, who she learned was interested in hiring for his department.

Ben Black attributes his early fascination with science to his fifth-grade teacher, a former industrial chemist, who lost a finger in a lab explosion. Black explains, “I can probably credit my teacher at the time, Al Nubling. He was just an incredible teacher—the best teacher I had in the public school. I didn’t have any scientists in my family, but Nubling had this background as an industrial chemist before he was a teacher, and he had sort of these ‘cool credentials’ because back in his chemist days, he had lost a finger in a lab explosion. That was quite exciting to hear about, and inspired this idea of, you know, mortal danger in the lab.”

Major grants will support five pioneering early-career biomedical scientists. The Rita Allen Foundation has named its 2022 class of Rita Allen Foundation Scholars, celebrating five early-career leaders in the biomedical sciences whose research holds exceptional promise for revealing new pathways to advance human health. The selected Scholars will receive grants of up to $110,000 annually for a maximum of five years to conduct innovative research on critical topics in cancer, immunology, and neuroscience—including how 3D DNA structures in the nucleus of cells impact gene regulation, developing novel molecular tools to understand and analyze brain circuits, and investigating the evolution of the cerebral cortex.

Joyce Yen, a resource partner for the Civic Science Fellows program and Director of the University of Washington’s ADVANCE Center for Institutional Change, has dedicated her career to improving the STEM ecosystem for advancing underrepresented minorities in science and engineering. In February, Joyce was awarded a Presidential Awardee for Excellence…

Four pioneering early-career scientists will receive support to explore the biology of pain. The Rita Allen Foundation has named the 2021 class of Award in Pain Scholars, celebrating four early-career leaders in the biomedical sciences whose research holds exceptional promise for revealing new pathways to understand and treat chronic pain.

With support from the Rita Allen Foundation, First Draft News has published a series of reports that analyze the relationship between misinformation and vaccine hesitancy among communities of color. Last summer, First Draft News released the report, Covid-19 vaccines: A leap of faith and the power of trust among…