Salk Women & Science

View the 2023 Awardees »

2022 Salk Women & Science Research Award Recipients

These awards provide crucial support to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to pursue high-risk, high-reward research in stages too early to attract traditional funding. The awards are targeted towards supporting future scientific leaders who will also actively foster the increased participation of women and girls in science.

Anna Gauthier

Noel Lab
Discovery of disease tolerance mechanisms for plant and global health 

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Anna-Maria Globig

Kaech Lab
How the nervous system regulates immune cells called CD8+ T cells in viral infections and cancer

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Brittany Ellis Jewell

Shaw Lab
Metabolic regulation in colon cancer, Crohn’s disease, and colitis 

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Caroline Jia

Tye Lab
How social exclusion changes the way the brain and body respond to physical pain 

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Yuening Liu

Kosuri Lab
How the organization of cells and their interactions affect the outcome of heart disease 

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Monika Ramos

Hollern Lab
Consequences of Lyme disease on cancer risk and behavior  

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Jasmin Revanna

Gage Lab
How brain cells called microglia contribute to Alzheimer’s disease  

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Katia Troha

Ayres Lab
Methionine protects the brain against infection 

Trailblazer Award

Women & Science recognizes outstanding achievements made by women in a STEAM
(Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) field, honoring select individuals with the Trailblazer Award.

Catherine Rivier

Salk Professor Emerita

The inaugural recipient of the Trailblazer Award in 2018, Professor Emerita Catherine Rivier joined the Salk Institute in 1970. She made many key discoveries regarding the mechanisms through which the brain is alerted to stressors such as psychological threats, infections, or drugs, as well as the hormones used by the brain to respond to these challenges. She also identified a large number of hormonal functions and new endocrine pathways throughout the body. She published hundreds of papers over her career, earned numerous consecutive “Highly Cited Researcher” recognitions, and paved the way for many future discoveries.

Ursula Bellugi

Salk Distinguished Professor Emerita
In 2019, the Salk Trailblazer award was renamed in honor of Salk Distinguished Professor Emerita Ursula Bellugi, who established an endowed fund to support those who have pioneered changes within the STEAM fields. She is widely regarded as the founder of the neurobiology of American Sign Language (ASL) and was the first to demonstrate that ASL is a true language. Her work led to the discovery that the same areas of the human brain that specialize in spoken language are activated by sign language. These findings provided significant insights into how the brain learns, interprets, and forgets language. She also made fundamental discoveries regarding Williams syndrome and autism. Bellugi died in 2022 at the age of 91.

Joanne Chory

Salk Professor
Joanne Chory has spent more than 25 years studying how plants respond to their environments and has made numerous fundamental discoveries regarding how plants sense light and make growth hormones. Her efforts leading Salk’s Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory, in addition to her roles as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and the Howard H. and Maryam R. Newman Chair in Plant Biology, have been widely acclaimed. She was awarded the 2018 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and was inducted as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. As co-director of the Salk’s Harnessing Plants Initiative, which optimizes plants to withstand and mitigate climate change, in 2019 she was instrumental in the Institute’s selection for $35 million in funding from The Audacious Project, a highly competitive TED program.

Rebecca Newman

Salk Former Salk Vice President of External Relations
Rebecca Newman oversaw private philanthropy, communications, and event-related activities for the Institute for more than 14 years. She was instrumental in guiding Salk’s first major fundraising campaign to support scientific research, which secured $360 million in 2015. Over her time at Salk, she increased private giving by an astounding 40 percent. Newman established the Women & Science program in 2011 to raise the visibility of women in science through historic fundraising and community engagement. In addition, events such as Explore Salk, the Salk Science & Music Series, Symphony at Salk, and numerous others saw significant advances during her tenure.