#USA #Philadelphia #Pew Charitable Trusts #Biomedical Sciences #Latin American Fellows

Pew Charitable Trusts Announces 2026 Latin American Fellows in Biomedical Sciences

The Pew Charitable Trusts has recently revealed its 2026 cohort for the Pew Latin American Fellows Program in Biomedical Sciences, highlighting its ongoing commitment to supporting scientific talent from Latin America. This year’s class features ten postdoctoral fellows hailing from seven different nations: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay. Each of these promising scientists will benefit from two years of funding aimed at facilitating their research endeavors in laboratories across the United States.

These fellows will have the opportunity to work alongside distinguished mentors, many of whom are alumni of Pew's biomedical programs. Donna Frisby-Greenwood, Pew's senior vice president for Philadelphia and scientific advancement, expressed the organization's pride in nurturing talented scientists for over 35 years. She remarked, "This year, we're excited to support 10 new fellows whose research will accelerate global health and carry on this legacy of impactful biomedical research."

To further its commitment to fostering biomedical research in Latin America, Pew will offer additional funding to those fellows who opt to return to their home countries and establish their own research laboratories. Notably, nearly 70% of participants in previous years have chosen this path, thereby contributing to the development of a robust biomedical research community throughout the region.

The 2026 fellows are set to investigate a diverse range of topics within biomedical research. Their inquiries will encompass areas such as the immune system's complexities, the relationship between sleep and memory enhancement, and methods for improving disease prevention and treatment strategies, among others.

Dr. Eva Nogales, chair of the program's national advisory committee and a renowned professor at the University of California, Berkeley noted, "Over the course of more than three decades, Pew Latin American fellows have built a rich scientific network across fields and countries. I am thrilled to welcome this exceptionally talented group into this community, and I look forward to seeing what they accomplish as scientists during their time in the program and beyond."

The fellows and their respective U.S. mentors are as follows:

• - Isabel Barón-Mendoza, Ph.D. - Mentored by Dr. Victoria Abraira at Rutgers University. Isabel is focusing on the cellular basis of touch sensitivity linked with autism spectrum disorder.
• - Bernabé Battista, Ph.D. - Under the guidance of Dr. Monica Colaiácovo at Harvard Medical School, Bernabé will research the molecular mechanisms influencing proper chromosome segregation in reproductive cell development.
• - Julia Castro, Ph.D. - Working at the Scripps Research Institute with Dr. Renan V.H. de Carvalho, Julia aims to understand how vaccines can induce lasting antibody responses through long-lived plasma cells.
• - Elias Barbosa da Silva-Junior, Ph.D. - At Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Elias will explore how the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans manipulates host cells to foster infection.
• - Guilherme de Moraes Nobrega, Ph.D. - Mentored by Dr. Jean K. Lim at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Guilherme will investigate the impacts of maternal infection timing and different strains of monkeypox virus on pregnancy outcomes.
• - Joaquin Gonzalez, Ph.D. - Under the mentorship of Dr. György Buzsáki at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Joaquin will delve into how the brain processes and consolidates memories during sleep.
• - Santiago López, Ph.D. - While working with Dr. Jennifer Doudna at the Innovative Genomics Institute, Santiago will study how bacterial immune systems respond to cellular stress or damage.
• - Sandra Nakandakari-Higa, Ph.D. - At the University of Rochester Medical Center with Dr. Minsoo Kim, Sandra aims to uncover why memory T cells in the lungs diminish shortly after infection.
• - Montserrat Olivares, Ph.D. - With guidance from Dr. Kristin Baldwin at Columbia University, Montserrat is researching the increased vulnerability of boys to autism spectrum disorders.
• - Laura Gonzalez Garcia, Ph.D. - Mentored by Dr. Andrew D.L. Nelson at Boyce Thompson Institute, Laura will investigate how differences in RNA modifications affect mRNA stability in both plants and humans.

Established in 1948, The Pew Charitable Trusts endeavors to leverage data-driven approaches to address global challenges, illuminate essential issues, and promote projects that lead to tangible advancements for society. Through initiatives like the Latin American Fellows Program, Pew continues to make a significant impact on the scientific landscape and public health worldwide.