07
August
Montana Lara accepted as ASHG scholar
Dr. Montana Lara was selected to be a scholar in the Human Genetics Scholars Initiative program from the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG).
Congratulations!
August
28
April
Montana Lara receives IMGS travel scholarship
Dr. Montana Lara received a travel scholarship from the International Mammalian Genome Society (IMGS) to attend the 39th International Mammalian Genome Conference in Reykjavík, Iceland on April 7-10, 2026!
01
April
Dr. Abraham Palmer receives 2025 Department of Pharmacology Distinguished Alumni Award
The award presentation took place during the weekly Department of Pharmacology Seminar Series and included Dr. Palmer’s Distinguished Alumni Lecture, “Understanding addiction through the lens of genetics.”
Congratulations, Dr. Palmer!
03
February
Zachary Tatom selected to be an NIAAA T32 Fellow
Dr. Zachary Tatom has been selected to receive a two year postdoctoral slot on the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) T32 for fall 2025, with Dr. Palmer as his mentor. Under the fellowship, Zachary will engage in alcohol research and studies within Palmer Lab with T32 support for up to two years.
Congratulations, Zachary!
08
November
P30 Center announced in UC San Diego Today
Our recently-funded NIDA P30 Center grant was announced in the campus publication UC San Diego Today.
The article is titled “UC San Diego Awarded $8 Million to Uncover Genetic Foundations of Substance Use Disorders.”
21
October
Palmer Lab members receive STAR awards
Gracie Ang, Dr. Benjamin Johnson, April Jones, Elaine Keung, Dr. Daniel Munro, and Dr. Thiago Missfeldt Sanches have been selected as 2024 STAR Award Recipients in recognition of and appreciation for their outstanding service and enduring contribution to the advancement of the psychiatry department’s teaching, research, clinical and public service missions.
Congratulations!
05
June
Faith Okamoto recognized as outstanding research undergraduate with two recent honors!
Congratulations, Faith!
Recipient of the Gabriele Wienhausen Biological Sciences Scholarship for 2023-2024 at UC San Diego and a second runner-up for the 2023 Triton Student Employee of the Year Award!
09
September
Dr. Abraham Palmer awarded the 2022 Health Sciences Faculty Excellence in Mentoring Award
Dr. Abraham Palmer received the 2022 Health Sciences Faculty Excellence in Mentoring Award for outstanding mentorship of future leaders in academic medicine at UC San Diego.
Congratulations, Dr. Palmer!
27
October
Elizabeth Alcantara is awarded the BrightSpinnaker Fellowship
Master’s Student Elizabeth Alcantara was recently awarded the BrightSpinnaker Fellowship. This fellowship is awarded to students who demonstrate a commitment to community service and provides funding for the master’s program at UCSD.
Congratulations, Liz!
31
August
$200,000 Supplement to Center for GWAS in outbred mice awarded to make the center’s database more FAIR (“Findable Accessible Interoperable Reusable”)
Dr. Abraham Palmer has received a $200,000 supplement for the project titled, “Making data from the center for GWAS in out bred rats FAIR and AI/ML ready”. NIDA has provided these funds to improve the AI/ML (Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning)-readiness of data from the Center for GWAS outbred rats. Additionally, these funds will be used to address important shortcomings in the processing of several large datasets and be used to implement new methods of effective information sharing.
