Kimberlyn Ellis, a graduate student in the Training Program in Human Genetics, has been selected as the 2024 Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar.
She will receive a $1,000 cash prize and will be mentored by the recipient of the 2024 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science, Sarah Tishkoff, PhD, the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor in Genetics and Biology at the University of Pennsylvania and a leader in the study of human genetic variation. Ellis will be recognized during Tishkoff’s Discovery Lecture, to be held on March 6, 2025.
Established in 2006, the Vanderbilt Prize honors and recognizes scientists of national reputation who have a stellar record of research accomplishments and who are known for mentoring others in science. Recipients mentor a promising graduate student at Vanderbilt — the Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar — for a year during their PhD studies.
Ellis is a computational geneticist with a long-term goal of bridging genomics, bioethics and health policy to promote equitable precision medicine for minority populations. Her doctoral dissertation research project aims to quantify the effects of genetic ancestry, sex and social risk factors on chronic disease in populations with significant proportions of African ancestry.
Ellis is “a rising star in the field of genomics,” wrote her mentor, Jennifer (Piper) Below, PhD, professor of Medicine in the Division of Genetic Medicine, in a nomination letter. Ellis is co-mentored by Ellen Wright Clayton, MD, JD, the Craig-Weaver Professor of Pediatrics and professor of Law.
“She has strong scientific training, an impressive track record of securing independent grant funding, a natural talent for science communication, and a deep passion for scientific and community service,” wrote Below, who holds the Robert A. Goodwin Jr., MD Directorship in Medicine. “Given my own research career at the interface of genome science and health disparities, never have I met a student who is as knowledgeable about this interface as Ms. Ellis was on entry to joining the HGEN (human genetics) program.”
Ellis received her BS in biology from Spelman College in Atlanta. She completed a year of research at Brown University with support from a National Institutes of Health Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program award. Since starting graduate school in 2020, she has been awarded an NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award, a Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study from Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and a Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Transition Award from the National Human Genome Research Institute.
She has supported the Vanderbilt, Nashville and greater genetics communities through multiple scientific and community service initiatives, and she is an appointed member of the American Society for Human Genetics Task Force for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
“I am sincerely honored and grateful to be selected for this award,” Ellis said. “Moreover, I am overjoyed at the opportunity to be mentored by Dr. Tishkoff as I greatly admire her intentional commitment to African and African-descent populations through her research and community engagement. I am eager to build a research career that prioritizes the same principles, and Dr. Tishkoff’s guidance will be invaluable as I embark on this journey.”
For more information about the Vanderbilt Prize Student Scholar, visit https://www.vumc.org/oor/vanderbilt-prize-student-scholar.
