We’re thrilled to announce the Fall 2025 recipients of the DeLill Nasser Award for Professional Development in Genetics!

Awarded twice a year, these grants help graduate students and postdocs take the next step in their careers—whether that’s attending a scientific meeting, participating in a lab course, or connecting with the broader genetics community.

The award honors the legacy of DeLill Nasser, a visionary leader and beloved mentor who championed “real genetics” during her decades of service at the National Science Foundation. Known for her fierce support of early-career scientists and her passion for bold, new ideas, Nasser left an unforgettable mark on the field.

Please join us in congratulating this season’s recipients!

Temitope Adebambo, Emory University

Research topic: I study how genes and environmental exposures interact to shape brain development and how disruptions in these processes lead to neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders.

Dashiell Desravines, University of Central Florida

Research topic: My research uses fruit flies to study how dietary compounds essential for survival are taken up by the gut.

Harrison Estes, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Research topic: I study how pathogenic fungi reprogram gene expression and metabolism to withstand metal stress from the host immune system and competing microbes.

Kenia Grimaldo, Sam Houston State University

Research topic: My research investigates mitochondrial alterations prior to cachexic muscle wasting utilizing a Drosophila larval tumor model.

Montana Lara, University of California, San Diego

Research topic: I study how genetic variation influences complex neurobehavioral traits and disease using quantitative genetics and model organisms.

Kimberly Louisor, University at Buffalo, SUNY

Research topic: Gene duplications related to longevity in a family of freshwater sucker species.

Gonen Memisoglu, University of Chicago

Research topic: I am exploring how cells detect and respond to DNA damage to protect their genomic integrity.

Mubaraq Opoola, University of Louisville

Research topic: I study how genetic differences influence how much food fruit flies eat, to help us better understand the biology of appetite and metabolic diseases like obesity and diabetes.

Amber Ridgway, University of Pennsylvania

Research topic: Investigating how and why adaptive evolution at the nuclear lamina preserves early embryonic genome integrity.

Nicolas Vergara Ruiz, Cornell University

Research topic: How “eat-me” signals are regulated and recognized during neuronal degeneration.

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