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Published on January 02, 2025
Anayancy Ramos ’19, a Ph.D. microbiology student at Emory University, has dedicated the past several years to serving the scientific community through both her research and her commitment to advancing equity and diversity in science. This year, her hard work earned her the prestigious Gilliam Fellowship, making her one of only 50 recipients selected from 43 institutions nationwide.
“I am eager to connect and forge relationships with a diverse pool of fellows that I may have never met otherwise,” said Ramos, who earned the award with her mentor, Tim Read, professor of medicine at Emory.
Ramos’ background as an undocumented first-generation college student has driven her work to advance equity and diversity in the sciences. “It was almost entirely by accident that I stumbled upon TheDream.US,” she said of the scholarship program that brought her to Eastern.
“Being part of the first cohort of TheDream.US Opportunity Scholars at Eastern taught me valuable skills in learning how to be my own advocate, how to be resourceful and how to take failures as redirection.”
While studying at Eastern, Ramos struggled to find summer research opportunities, many of which required U.S. citizenship. “It was extremely disheartening to know so few research opportunities existed at the time for undocumented students,” she said.
Ramos credits Eastern professors Garrett Dancik, Vijaykumar Veerappan and Yaw Nsiah for giving her research experience and helping her figure out a career path.
“The mentorship and support I was offered at Eastern deeply ingrained in me the power of mentorship in advancing equity, inclusion and diversity in science,” she said.
As a Gilliam Fellow, she said, “I’m determined to make an impact by making sure other undocumented students know that this path is possible, and I will do whatever I can to make space for other underrepresented minorities to pursue a career in STEM.”
Written by Noel Teter '24