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Overview
In 2001, the Genetics Society of America established The DeLill Nasser Award for Professional Development in Genetics, recognizing the critical role DeLill Nasser played in the field. The $1,000 award supports geneticists in their graduate or postdoctoral career stages by subsidizing participation in conferences and laboratory courses.
DeLill Nasser was a long-time GSA member and National Science Foundation Program Director in Eukaryotic Genetics. Nasser, who died in 2000, was at the National Science Foundation for more than 22 years and has been called the “patron saint of real genetics” and a major force in the development of the field. By giving researchers time and support, Nasser enabled them to work on genetic problems, sometimes seemingly obscure, which resulted in significant progress in genetics; among many examples are her championing of Arabidopsis research and Drosophila neurogenetics. Nasser was especially supportive of young scientists, people who were beginning their careers, and those trying to open new areas of genetic inquiry.
Read more about Nasser in the tribute published in the August 2001 issue of GENETICS.
Deadline
The deadline to apply for the Spring cycle is typically in the middle of April and the deadline to apply for the Fall cycle is typically mid-September.
DeLill Nasser Awards have two rounds of applications per year; one for courses and conferences occurring between January 1 and June 30, and another for courses and conferences occurring between July 1 and December 31. Monitor the GSA e-News and this webpage for updates about application windows.
Application Process
Apply via the button at the top of this page. You will need to sign in using your GSA member account details to access the form. As well as information about yourself and the conference or course you plan to attend, you will need to provide the following:
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- Describe how the meeting/course will enhance your professional development (100-500 words)
- Justify your requested grant amount (10-350 words)
- ONLY POSTDOCS: Provide a description of your graduate research experience (500 words)
- Describe your record of service to the scientific community (350 words)
- Statement of current research interests and progress (350 words)
- Your Curriculum Vitae in PDF form
- Name and email address of two references who can provide letters of recommendation
Eligibility
GSA members who are graduate students or postdocs may apply for a DeLill Nasser Award. Only those with current membership in either the graduate student or postdoc category will be able to access the application form. Join or renew today to make your GSA membership active for now through the end of next year. Post-baccalaureates, lab technicians, or individuals who are searching for faculty positions but are no longer postdocs are not eligible.
Selection Criteria
In the first round, the DeLill Nasser Award Selection Committee will consider:
Significance of research:
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- Research must be in genetics and not, for example, biophysics
- Research with higher impact on the field would be reviewed more favorably
- Applicant-initiated science is an asset
Productivity, based on:
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- Publication record
- Letters of recommendation
Other considerations:
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- Demonstrated service and leadership (primarily for postdoctoral applicants)
- Seniority of student/postdoc (applicants nearing the end of their postdoctoral training or graduate degree who have been productive are generally given higher priority over those at the start of their training).
In the second round, the DeLill Nasser Award Selection Committee will consider:
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- The level of genetic content at the conference or course you would like to attend. For example, conferences or courses focusing on neuroscience or developmental biology would be given lower priority than conferences/courses with high genetic content, unless the applicant can make a compelling case.
FAQs
I am the recipient of a DeLill Nasser Award. Can you please make the check out to my institution so that I don’t need to pay taxes on this award?
The DeLill Nasser Award for Professional Development in Genetics is awarded to individuals, not institutions; as such, we make the check out to the award winner. Each winner must fill out a Form W-9 (US citizens) or a Form W-8BEN (citizens outside of the US) for the Internal Revenue Service. Please plan for your taxes accordingly.
My reference(s) didn’t get an email asking them to upload the recommendation letter. What should I do?
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- Make sure that the email address for your reference was entered correctly.
- Have your reference check their spam folder.
- If neither of the above explains why the email was not received, please email Anne Marie Mahoney: mahoney@genetics-gsa.org.
Can I use the DeLill Nasser Award to attend any conference?
Yes! A DeLill Nasser Award may be used to attend any course or conference that would enhance the recipient’s professional development in genetics.
The application form says I am not eligible for the award, but I am a member of GSA. What should I do?
If you recently joined, please wait 20 minutes and then refresh the page before entering the site so your membership status will be updated. If the problem persists, please email Anne Marie Mahoney: mahoney@genetics-gsa.org.
Support the DeLill Nasser Fund
The DeLill Nasser Award for Professional Development in Genetics is made possible by generous contributions from our donors. Please consider contributing to support our community’s early career members.
Past Recipients
| Year | Name | Institution |
| 2024 | Anush Chiappino-Pepe | Harvard Medical School |
| 2024 | Brenda Cabrera Mendoza | Yale University |
| 2024 | McKenna Feltes | Johns Hopkins University |
| 2024 | Letícia Magpali | Dalhousie University |
| 2024 | Sylvia Durkin | University of California, Berkeley |
| 2024 | Toheeb Oyerinde | University of Medical Sciences |
| 2024 | Ben Hopkins | University of California, Davis |
| 2024 | Darren Lam | Stanford University |
| 2024 | Austin Daigle | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
| 2024 | Ayawovi Selom Ametepe | University of Arkansas |
| 2023 | Mariana Harris |
University of California, Los Angeles
|
| 2023 | Jennifer Alexander | University of Pennsylvania |
| 2023 | Renee Geck | University of Washington |
| 2023 | Landen Gozashti | Harvard University |
| 2023 | Bogdan Sieriebriennikov | New York University |
| 2023 | Sarah Colon Plaza | University of Colorado |
| 2023 | Travis Tu’ifua | University of Utah |
| 2023 | Rachel Meade | Duke University |
| 2023 | Malek Elsayyid | University of Delaware |
| 2023 | Julio Molina Pineda | University of Arkansas |
| 2023 | Julius Tabin |
Harvard University |
| 2023 | Julie Jung |
University of Utah
|
| 2023 | Cori Cahoon |
University of Oregon
|
| 2023 | Anadika Prasad |
University College, London
|
| 2023 | Ricardo Frausto |
University of California, Los Angeles
|
| 2023 | Oscar Bautista |
Case Western Reserve University
|
| 2023 | Roger White |
University of Rochester
|
| 2023 | Jaclyn Bubnell |
Cornell University
|
| 2023 | Christine Rourke |
University of Delaware
|
| 2023 | Erik Enbody |
University of California
|
| 2022 | Katheryn Rothenberg | University of Toronto |
| 2022 | Carla Bautista Rodriguez | Universite Laval |
| 2022 | Ana-Maria Raicu | Michigan State University |
| 2022 | Sarah Neuman | University of Wisconsin, Madison |
| 2022 | Zoe Irons | University of Oregon |
| 2022 | James Held | Vanderbilt University |
| 2022 | Lydia Grmai | University of Pittsburgh/Duke University |
| 2022 | Malgorzata Gazda | Institut Pasteur |
| 2022 | Puja Biswas | University of British Columbia |
| 2022 | Mearag Amare | University of Wisconsin, Madison |
| 2022 | Vladimir Lazetic | University of California, San Diego |
| 2022 | Sophia Sanchez | University of Texas, Austin |
| 2022 | Uzezi Okinedo | University of Massachusetts, Boston |
| 2022 | Emily Hendricks | Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville |
| 2022 | Maria Sterrett | Emory University |
| 2022 | Shannon Hateley | Carnegie Institution for Science |
| 2022 | Jennifer Chik | University of California, San Diego |
| 2022 | Anna Moyer | University of Alabama, Birmingham |
| 2022 | Diedre Reitz | University of California, Davis |
| 2022 | Jon Hibshman | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
| 2021 | Neftaly Cruz Mireles | The Sainsbury Laboratory |
| 2021 | Melissa Drown | University of Miami |
| 2021 | Hayden Hatch | Albert Einstein College of Medicine |
| 2021 | Dianiris Luciano-Rosario | University of Wisconsin, Madison |
| 2021 | Joaquin Nunez | University of Virginia |
| 2021 | Joseph Uche Ogbede | University of British Columbia |
| 2021 | Anton Suvorov | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
| 2021 | Valeria Velasquez Zapata | Iowa State University |
| 2021 | Vikas Yadav | Duke University |
| 2021 | Wenyu Zhang | Max-Planck Institute |
| 2021 | Uma Arora | The Jackson Laboratory/Tufts University |
| 2021 | Xiaofei Bai | National Institutes of Health |
| 2021 | Ankita Chavan | ETH Zurich |
| 2021 | Braveen Joseph | University of Wyoming |
| 2021 | Murat Can Kalem | University at Buffalo, SUNY |
| 2021 | Seyma Katrinli | Emory University |
| 2021 | Riley Kellermeyer | University of Nevada, Reno |
| 2021 | Jason Millington | University of British Columbia |
| 2021 | Jessamyn Perlmutter | University of Kansas |
| 2021 | Xiaofeng (Allen) Su | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 2020 | Chee Kiang Ewe | University of California Santa Barbara |
| 2020 | Felipe Martelli | Monash University |
| 2020 | Molly Matty | Salk Institute for Biological Studies |
| 2020 | Daniel Lee | California Institute of Technology |
| 2020 | Madhumala Sadanandappa | Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth |
| 2020 | Lengxob ‘Lenny’ Yong | University of Exeter |
| 2020 | Angli Xue | The University of Queensland; Garvan Institute of Medical Research |
| 2020 | Rachel Waymack | University of California Irvine |
| 2020 | Farida Yasmin | University of North Carolina at Charlotte |
| 2020 | Katie Billmyre | Stowers Institute for Medical Research |
| 2020 | Ching-Ho Chang | University of Rochester |
| 2020 | Jae Young Choi | New York University |
| 2020 | Andrea Cuentas-Condori | Vanderbilt University |
| 2020 | Troy McDiarmid | University of British Columbia |
| 2020 | Summer Morrill | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 2020 | Juan D. Rodriguez | Emory University |
| 2020 | Sophia Tintori | New York University |
| 2020 | Patricka Williams-Simon | University of Missouri |
| 2020 | Celja Uebel | University of Southern California |
| 2019 | Yu-Chieh Chen | UC Riverside |
| 2019 | Lauren Donoghue | University of North Carolina Chapel Hill |
| 2019 | Jullien Michelle Flynn | Cornell University |
| 2019 | Theodora Koromila | California Institute of Technology |
| 2019 | Julia M. Kreiner | University of Toronto |
| 2019 | Marie Saitou | University at Buffalo |
| 2019 | Monica Rose Sanchez | Stanford University |
| 2019 | Chloe Snider | Vanderbilt University |
| 2019 | Bryan Thornlow | University of California, Santa Cruz |
| 2019 | Amy K. Webster | Duke University |
| 2019 | Philipp Brand | UC Davis |
| 2019 | Jessie Fernandez | UT Southwestern Medical Center |
| 2019 | Talia Hatkevich | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
| 2019 | Matthew Jones | University of Montana |
| 2019 | Balint Z. Kacsoh | Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth |
| 2019 | Katja Kasimatis | University of Oregon |
| 2019 | Edgar M Medina | Duke University |
| 2019 | Wynn K Meyer | University of Pittsburgh |
| 2019 | Rebecca A.S. Palu | University of Utah |
| 2019 | Lesley N Weaver | Johns Hopkins University |
| 2018 | Ina Anreiter | University of Toronto |
| 2018 | Kathleen Gray Ferris | University of California, Davis |
| 2018 | Nandita Garud | Gladstone Institutes at UCSF |
| 2018 | Piya Ghose | The Rockefeller University |
| 2018 | Seungsoo Kim | University of Washington |
| 2018 | Danielle L Kopke | Vanderbilt University |
| 2018 | David Peris Navarro | IATA |
| 2018 | Chloe Robins | Emory University |
| 2018 | Clare So | University of Toronto |
| 2018 | Junior John West | University of Toronto |
| 2018 | Maria Bravo Nunez | Stowers Institute for Medical Research |
| 2018 | Mahul Chakraborty | University of California, Irvine |
| 2018 | Alys Cheatle Jarvela | University of Maryland |
| 2018 | Nancy Chen | University of California, Davis |
| 2018 | Priscilla Erickson | University of Virginia |
| 2018 | Alexandra Erwin | University of Kansas |
| 2018 | Piero Lamelza | University of Washington |
| 2018 | Caiti Smukowski | University of Washington |
| 2018 | David Truong | NYU Langone Health |
| 2018 | Dona Wisidagama | University of Utah |
| 2017 | Richard Coleman | University of Hawaii at Manoa |
| 2017 | Emily Davenport | Cornell University |
| 2017 | Marissa Fletcher | MIT |
| 2017 | Daniel Grimes | Princeton University |
| 2017 | Joshua Li | The University of Queensland |
| 2017 | Colin Olito | Monash University |
| 2017 | Jasmine Ono | University of British Columbia |
| 2017 | Daniel Schrider | Rutgers University |
| 2017 | Valerie Tornini | Yale University |
| 2017 | Jinglin Lucy Xie | Stanford University School of Medicine |
| 2017 | Terry Felton | University College London |
| 2017 | Abigail Lind | Vanderbilt University |
| 2017 | Albert Mondragon | Boston University |
| 2017 | Taehyun Ryu | University of Southern California |
| 2017 | Michele Sammut | University College London |
| 2017 | Igor Iatsenko | École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) |
| 2017 | Nikos Konstantinides | New York University |
| 2017 | Jyoti Misra | Rutgers University |
| 2017 | Luke Noble | New York University |
| 2017 | Jennifer Wisecaver | Vanderbilt University |
| 2016 | Emily Behrman | University of Pennsylvania |
| 2016 | Grace Goh | University of British Columbia |
| 2016 | Vanessa Gray | University of Washington |
| 2016 | Granton Jindal | Princeton University |
| 2016 | Aashiq Kachroo | The University of Texas at Austin |
| 2016 | Grace Y. C. Lee | Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory |
| 2016 | Joy Meserve | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| 2016 | Adam Norris | Harvard University |
| 2016 | Gaurav Varshney | National Human Genome Research Institute |
| 2016 | Anna Vickrey | University of Utah |
| 2016 | Richard Wang | University of Wisconsin – Madison |
| 2016 | Mayu Inaba | University of Michigan |
| 2016 | Havva Keskin | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| 2016 | Xiaobo Li | Carnegie Institution for Science |
| 2016 | Hongan Long | Indiana University at Bloomington |
| 2016 | Kentaro Noma | University of California, San Diego |
| 2016 | Stefan Oehlers | Duke University Medical Center |
| 2016 | Konstantinos Palikaras | University of Crete, Greece |
| 2016 | Sambasivam Periyannan | Agriculture CSIRO, Canberra, Australia |
| 2016 | Monica Wu | University of Toronto, Canada |
| 2015 | Keir Balla | University of California, San Diego |
| 2015 | Cara Brand | University of Rochester |
| 2015 | Sarah Deng | Columbia University Medical Center |
| 2015 | Carol Myrick Anderson | University of California, San Francisco |
| 2015 | Patricia Jumbo Lucioni | Vanderbilt University |
| 2015 | Hannah Seidel | University of Wisconsin – Madison |
| 2015 | Hagen Tilgner | Stanford University |
| 2015 | Jeremy Yoder | University of Minnesota |
| 2015 | Kevin Wei | Cornell University |
| 2015 | Qi Zhou | University of California, Berkeley |
| 2015 | Robert Blake Billmyre | Duke University |
| 2015 | Justin Bosch | University of California, Berkeley |
| 2015 | Yee Lian Chew | University of Sydney, Australia |
| 2015 | Collin Ewald | Harvard Medical School |
| 2015 | Travis Johnson | Monash University, Australia |
| 2015 | Ivan Liachko | University of Washington |
| 2015 | Hansong Ma | University of California, San Francisco |
| 2015 | Kevin Schoenfelder | Duke University |
| 2014 | Alina Chan | University of British Columbia |
| 2014 | Amanda Socha | Dartmouth College |
| 2014 | Emily Fawcett | University of Washington |
| 2014 | Jason Rogers | Princeton University |
| 2014 | Meleah Hickman | University of Minnesota |
| 2014 | Michelle Leach | University of Toronto |
| 2014 | Daniel Pollard | University of California, San Diego |
| 2014 | Huanyu (Joe) Qiao | University of California, Davis |
| 2014 | Tiffany Timbers | Simon Fraser University |
| 2014 | Yang Cao | University of Wisconsin – Madison |
| 2014 | Huan Chen | Columbia University Medical Center |
| 2014 | Fang Yum Lim | University of Wisconsin – Madison |
| 2014 | Matthew Niepielko | Rutgers University |
| 2014 | Nathaniel Sharp | University of Toronto |
| 2014 | Charissa de Bekker | Pennsylvania State University |
| 2014 | George Eisenhoffer, Jr. | Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah |
| 2014 | Eric Joyce | Harvard Medical School |
| 2014 | Eric Stoffregan | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| 2014 | Sen (Allen) Xu | Indiana University |
| 2014 | Amanda Zacharias | University of Pennsylvania |
| 2013 | Daniel Bricker | University of Utah |
| 2013 | Jason C Slot | Vanderbilt University |
| 2013 | Alysia Mortimer | Emory University |
| 2013 | Mengshu Xu | University of Toronto |
| 2013 | Olga Novikova | University at Albany |
| 2013 | Wen Huang | North Carolina State University |
| 2013 | Russ Corbett-Detig | Harvard Univeristy |
| 2013 | Kathy Ngo | University of California – Las Angeles |
| 2013 | Robert Unckless | Cornell University |
| 2013 | Maria Hindt | Dartmouth College |
| 2013 | Brian Arnold | Harvard University |
| 2013 | Sara Beese-Sims | Harvard Medical School |
| 2013 | Kingsley Boateng | NIDDK/NIH |
| 2013 | Kerry Geiler-Samerotte | New York University |
| 2013 | Aleeza Gerstein | University of Minnesota |
| 2012 | Xin Li | Vanderbilt University |
| 2012 | Krista Dobi | Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center |
| 2012 | Kathleen Dumas | University of Michigan |
| 2012 | Yun Wu | Princeton University |
| 2012 | Megan Phifer-Rixey | University of Arizona |
| 2012 | Zhiyong Shao | Yale University |
| 2012 | Michael Eastwood | University of Toronto |
| 2012 | Daniel P. Rice | Harvard University |
| 2012 | Erik Lehnert | Stanford University |
| 2012 | Brett Tomson | University of Pittsburgh |
| 2012 | Rui Chen | Stanford University |
| 2012 | Alison Pischedda | University of California – Santa Barbara |
| 2012 | Guangbo Chen | Stowers Institute for Medical Research |
| 2012 | Eugene A. Gladyschev | Harvard University |
| 2012 | Annalise B. Paaby | New York University |
| 2012 | Justine A. Melo | Massachusetts General Hospital |
| 2012 | Kyle R. Pomraning | Oregon State University |
| 2012 | Laura H. Okagaki | University of Minnesota |
| 2012 | Andrea K. Kalis | Carleton College |
| 2012 | James E. Robinson | University of California San Diego |
| 2012 | Sarah A. Gilmore | University of California, San Francisco |
| 2012 | Matthew E. Wolak | University of California Riverside |
| 2012 | Richard P. Meisel | Cornell University |
| 2012 | Erin S. Keebaugh | Emory University |
| 2012 | Clarissa J. Nobile | University of California – San Francisco |
| 2012 | Michael E. Talkowski | Massachusetts General Hospital |
| 2011 | Nicolas Buchon | EPFL |
| 2011 | Xu Chen | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 2011 | Heather Flores | Cornell University |
| 2011 | Daniel P. Kane | Tufts University |
| 2011 | Yunsik Kang | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 2011 | Mia T. Levine | Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center |
| 2011 | Teresa R. O’Meara | Duke University Medical Center |
| 2011 | Alexandra A. Soukup | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 2011 | Chaolong Wang | University of Michigan |
| 2011 | Cornelia E. Zorca | Yale University |
| 2011 | Yizhi Cai | Johns Hopkins School of Medicine |
| 2011 | Matthew L. Bochman | Princeton University |
| 2011 | Thomas J. Pohl | University Washington |
| 2011 | Sankalpi N. Warnasooriya | Michigan State University |
| 2011 | Clement Y. Chow | Cornell University |
| 2011 | Julie M. Granka | Stanford University |
| 2011 | Maja Tarailo-Graovac | Simon Fraser University |
| 2011 | Takamune T. Saito | Harvard Medical School |
| 2011 | Li Yang | University Pennsylvania |
| 2011 | Naomi Ziv | New York University |
| 2011 | Wenjen Li | Duke University |
| 2011 | Katrina Mitchel | Duke University |
| 2011 | Caroline V. Sartain | Cornell University |
| 2011 | Karl F. Erhard | University California, Berkeley |
| 2011 | Beatriz Vicoso | University California, Berkeley |
| 2011 | Kwame Twumasi-Boateng | University California, Berkeley |
| 2010 | Erkan Buzbas | University of Michigan |
| 2010 | Bryce Daines | Baylor College of Medicine |
| 2010 | Marc Erhardt | Univ de Fribourg |
| 2010 | Diane Genereux | University of Washington |
| 2010 | Te-Wen Lo | University of California – Berkeley |
| 2010 | Rebecca Shapiro | University of Toronto |
| 2009 | Arantza Barrios | Rutgers University |
| 2009 | Eleni Mimitou | Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center |
| 2009 | Timothy B. Sackton | Harvard University |
| 2009 | Wei Shen | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 2009 | Michelle M. Tangredi | Tufts University School of Medicine |
| 2009 | Maria Margarita Womack | Princeton University |
| 2008 | Gilles R. Hickson | University of Montreal |
| 2008 | Yen-Ping Hsueh | Duke University |
| 2008 | Roshan A. Jain | Princeton University |
| 2008 | Chanhee Kang | Harvard Medical School & Brigham & Women’s Hospital |
| 2008 | Amanda A. Larracuente | Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research |
| 2008 | Kate M. O’Connor-Giles | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 2008 | Mara Schvarzstein | Stanford University |
| 2008 | Sarit Smolikov | University of Iowa |
| 2007 | Kristin R. DeSouza | Nationwide Childrens Hospital Research |
| 2007 | Ya-Chieh Hsu | Rockefeller University |
| 2007 | William W. Ja | California Institute of Technology |
| 2007 | Chad G. Pearson | University of Colorado-Denver |
| 2006 | Anjon Audhya | University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School |
| 2006 | Gil B. Carvalho | California Institute of Technology |
| 2006 | Atina G. Cote | Terrence Donnolly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research |
| 2006 | Elissa P. Lei | NIDDK/NIH |
| 2006 | Kirki Tsigari | Shire HGT Medical Dept |
| 2005 | Joshua C. Mell | University of British Columbia |
| 2005 | Elena A. Repnikova | Nationwide Children’s Hospital |
| 2004 | Sue L. Jaspersen | Stowers Institute for Medical Research |
| 2003 | Sandra M. Leal | University Southern Mississippi |
| 2002 | Joshua Chern | University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 2002 | Tim Christensen | East Carolina University |
| 2002 | Kristin L. Latham | Western Oregon University |
| 2002 | Amy Rice Doetsch | College of Southern Idaho |
