Paulyn Cartwright, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Director for the Office for Diversity in Science and Training, University of Kansas
School Information
Graduate School Board of Directors
The Graduate School of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research
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Paulyn Cartwright
Professor
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Ph.D., Biology, Yale University.
Profile
Paulyn Cartwright is a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Kansas. She also serves as Director for the Office for Diversity in Science and Training. She served as the rotating Program Director for the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems for the National Science Foundation 2020 to 2021.
Cartwright’s research focuses on understanding the evolution and development of marine invertebrates. As a principal investigator she has maintained an active research program for more than 14 years during which time she has mentored graduate students and helped position them for successful research careers.
Cartwright works to broaden participation in science through the Office of Diversity in Science Training. She coordinates three NIH-funded training programs targeted for underrepresented students in STEM to help them pursue careers in research. She mentors underrepresented minority students as they apply and prepare to transition to graduate school. In addition, she develops and organizes educational enhancement curriculum. Prior to this role, she served as Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology where she managed a graduate program and implemented new policies to lower barriers for participation STEM and increase student success. She also worked to improve the retention of talented diverse graduate students.
Cartwright received her Ph.D. in biology from Yale University. Following her completion of her degree, she was a National Science Foundation Sloan Postdoctoral Fellow in Molecular Evolution at Harvard University and the University of Kansas.
Betty M. Drees
President
The Graduate School of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research
M.D., University of Kansas
Profile
Dr. Betty Drees was appointed as the President of The Graduate School of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Spring 2018. She served on the Board of Directors of the Graduate School prior to appointment as president. She is on the faculty at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine where she is Dean Emerita after serving thirteen years as dean (2001-2014) and acting provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs (2007-2008). She is a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and the Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics at the UMKC School of Medicine. She is a board-certified endocrinologist who practices at Truman Medical Centers in Kansas City, MO. She is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies, and is a Fellow in the American College of Physicians and the American College of Endocrinology. She is the 2020 president of the Kansas City Medical Society. She has been recognized by Ingram’s Magazine as one of Kansas City’s Most Accomplished and Successful Women (2008) and as an Icon of Education (2019).
Drees has served in multiple regional and national roles in education, including the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, Chair of the Governance Council of the American Medical Association’s Academic Physician Section, and Chair of the Missouri State Medical Association’s Commission on Continuing Medical Education. She is currently the Program Director for the UMKC Fellowship in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism. She received teaching awards in the UMKC internal medicine residency and the endocrinology fellowship in 2018 and 2019. She was co-Principal Investigator on a learning collaborative project funded by the NIH on building institutional capacity for health equity.
Drees received her medical degree from the University of Kansas and did her residency training in internal medicine and fellowship in endocrinology at the Kansas University Medical Center. Following her fellowship, she did postdoctoral research training in the Veterans Affairs Career Development Program. She has received funding through the NIH and the Health Forward Foundation on diabetes prevention projects. She was the Principal Investigator for the Kansas City site in the Enhanced Lifestyles for Metabolic Syndrome (ELMS) Multi-Site Trial funded by the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund. She is active in community service in diabetes, including serving as facilitator for a diabetes ECHO (Extension for Community Health Outcomes) funded by the Missouri TeleHealth Network. This project provides outreach to primary care providers to meet professional development needs. She is the immediate past president of the Community Leadership Board of the Kansas City area American Diabetes Association.
Caroline M. Kane
Board Chair
The Graduate School of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research
B.S., Zoology, Ohio University
M.S., Genetics, North Carolina State University
Ph.D., Biochemistry, University of California, Berkeley
Profile
Caroline M. Kane retired from the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, in 2008 after nearly 30 years in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology. She is currently a Professor in Residence Emerita, Molecular and Cell Biology. While at Berkeley, she worked with students across the University spectrum: high school, undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral. She was Head Graduate Student Advisor for the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Division for many years and, in 1992, helped found the award-winning undergraduate Biology Scholars Program dedicated to increasing the successes of students from traditionally marginalized backgrounds in science, math and engineering. After retirement, she served as Interim Director of the University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program 2014-2015.
Kane has received the Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence, 2007; Leon A. Henkin Citation For Distinguished Service, 2002; Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math and Engineering Mentoring (awarded to Coalition for Excellence and Diversity in Math, Science and Engineering of which she was Chair 1995-2009), 1998; Award for Distinguished Service, American Society for Cell Biology, 2012; elected a Berkeley Fellow in 2018; and served on the National Advisory Council, National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities, 2002-2006. She remains active in promoting the advancement and career goals of students from high school through career entry. She is also very active in issues that impact retirees in higher education, and she has been President, Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education, 2017-2019; Chair, Council of University of California Emeriti Associations, 2018-2020; Past President, University of California, Berkeley Emeriti Association, 2015-2017. She also is Co-Founder of The Cell: An Image Library, with the American Society for Cell Biology, 2009-2012.
Kane received her B.S. in zoology from Ohio University followed by an M.S. in genetics from North Carolina State University. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Biochemistry under Stuart Linn, Ph.D., at the University of California, Berkeley. Her postdoctoral work was with Harold Weintraub, Ph.D., at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle. She returned to Berkeley in 1991 and remained there for her entire faculty career.
Lois Margaret Nora
Professor of Neurology, President Emeritus, and Dean of Medicine Emeritus
Northeast Ohio Medical University
M.D., Rush Medical College
J.D., University of Chicago
M.B.A., University of Kentucky
Profile
Dr. Lois Margaret Nora is Professor of Neurology, President Emeritus, and Dean of Medicine Emeritus at Northeast Ohio Medical University. Passionate about enhancing health professionals’ education in order to improve the care of patients and the overall health of our communities, Nora’s career is notable for community engagement and organizational transformation achieved by fostering high performing teams, building consensus and seeking diverse stakeholder engagement.
From 2012-2018, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). During her tenure, ABMS championed new models for continuing certification including longitudinal assessment; worked to increase collaborative efforts across the profession to maintain high standards in certification; and expanded international programs. In addition, the organization initiated the “Continuing Board Certification: Vision for the Future” initiative, establishing a multi-stakeholder Commission that released a final report of comprehensive recommendations for the future of continuing certification in February 2019.
Nora was a 2018 Fellow in the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University where her work focused on accreditation as a lever for positive change in education, both nationally and internationally. While at Harvard, she also continued work on a history of women in medicine through the lens of our systems of medical education and professional self-regulation.
She currently serves on the Steering Committee of the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaboration Clinician Well-being and Resilience, the Advisory Board of the National Center for Interprofessional Education and Practice, and the Board of Visitors of the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy. She has also served as the President of the American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine, on the US Health Resources and Services Administration Council on Graduate Medical Education (COGME, Chair 2018-19), on the Board of Directors of the Association of American Medical Colleges, and as a trustee of the Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation.
Her honors include the American Medical Women's Association President's Recognition Award, the Association of Medical Colleges Group on Educational Affairs Merrel Flair Award in Medical Education, the New Horizons Award from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and the Phillips Medal of Public Service from the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, and four honorary degrees.
Nora received her medical degree from Rush Medical College, a law degree and certificate in clinical medical ethics from the University of Chicago and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Kentucky.
Nipam Patel
Director of the Marine Biological Laboratory and Professor
University of Chicago
A.B., Biology, Princeton University
Ph.D., Biology, Stanford University
Profile
Dr. Nipam Patel is the Director of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and a Professor at the University of Chicago. He joined the MBL in 2018 from University of California, Berkeley, where he was Professor and Co-chair of the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology. Patel is the 20th scientist to serve as MBL Director since its founding in 1888.
A longtime member of the MBL community, Patel has taught in the MBL Embryology course since 2001 and served as course co-director from 2007 to 2011. He is a leading scholar in modern evolutionary and developmental biology with specific focus on the evolution of body patterning and segmentation, regeneration of the germline, and structural coloration. His scientific expertise encompasses the development of novel, genetic model organisms for biological study, which can reveal much about human biology; and the application of advanced imaging technologies to probe the fundamental dynamics of living systems.
Patel is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has been awarded numerous honors, including the Schubert Endowed Chair and the William V. Power Endowed Chair at UC Berkeley, the McKnight Scholars Neuroscience Fellowship Award, and an NSF Predoctoral Fellowship.
Patel received an A.B. in biology from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in biology from Stanford University.
Carl Rhodes
Former Senior Scientific Officer
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
B.S., Zoology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ph.D., Biology, Johns Hopkins University
Profile
Carl Rhodes is retired from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). He began his work there as a Scientific Officer in May 2000. His primary responsibilities included managing the review and evaluation process for more than 350 current HHMI investigators.
Rhodes earned his baccalaureate degree in zoology with a minor in mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He then entered the graduate program in biology at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, earning a Ph.D. in Biology in 1971. Rhodes then carried out postdoctoral research with Nobel Laureate Dr. Paul Berg from 1971 until 1975, in the Department of Biochemistry at Stanford University Medical Center, holding fellowships from the National Science Foundation and the American Cancer Society.
Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado
President and Chief Scientific Officer
Stowers Institute for Medical Research
Development and Regeneration, Genetics and Genomics, Evolutionary Biology, Molecular and Cell Biology
Courses Taught
Cell Biology; Evolution and Model Systems; Laboratory Rotation; Thesis Laboratory
Profile
Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, Ph.D., is the President and Chief Scientific Officer of the Stowers Institute. Alejandro joined the Institute in 2011, was named its Scientific Director in 2019, and named Executive Director and Chief Scientific Officer in 2021. In 2023 he was named President and Chief Scientific Director.