At Vanderbilt, we are committed to helping our students navigate and grow through the rigor of graduate education. And, our faculty are committed to helping all students, not just those in their own research groups. To extend this commitment, we have assembled a team of faculty to serve as auxiliary mentors for second year students and beyond. The development of such a resource aligns with the recommendations of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s report on effective mentoring in STEMM that encourages students to build a network of multiple mentors during their Ph.D. training, and to include mentors who are outside of their direct reporting relationships.
Each of the 11 auxiliary mentors listed below is willing to provide students with their personal perspective on academic and professional matters. Their advice and perspective are meant to augment and complement the guidance that students receive from their advisor, thesis committee chair, DGS, program director or department chair, and other faculty during the course of their training. For more information about this resource and how to contact the auxiliary mentors, please see https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/bret/auxiliary-mentoring/.
- Christopher Aiken, Ph.D., professor of pathology, microbiology and immunology
- Julio Ayala, Ph.D., associate professor of molecular physiology and biophysics
- Breann Brown, PhD., assistant professor of biochemistry
- Bruce Carter, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry
- Katherine Friedman, Ph.D., associate professor and vice-chair of biological sciences
- Vivian Gama, Ph.D., assistant professor of cell and developmental biology
- Todd Edwards, Ph.D. associate professor medicine in the Division of Epidemiology
- Borden Lacy, Ph.D., professor of pathology, microbiology and immunology and biochemistry
- Julie Rhoades, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology
- Richard O’Brien, Ph.D., professor of molecular physiology and biophysics
- Bill Tansey, Ph.D., professor of cell and developmental biology