Richmond, VA – The Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials Award Program (Winn Awards) is pleased to announce the second cohort of the Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials: Clinical Investigator Pathway Program (Winn CIPP) for rising 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year medical students who are underrepresented in medicine (URM). The Winn CIPP is an intensive summer service-learning externship that exposes promising medical students to the basics of clinical trials and working in underserved community health settings to provide outreach, education, and engagement on clinical trials.
The second Winn CIPP cohort consists of 66 medical students who come from a range of backgrounds and represent a diverse set of experiences and perspectives. Over 80% of the students identify as Black/African American or Hispanic/Latino. Nearly half of the cohort is female. These students will participate in an intensive program that includes training on the basics of clinical trials and working in underserved community health settings. The Winn CIPP also includes a focus on professional development, management, and leadership skills.
“Prioritizing the training of medical students from diverse backgrounds is a critical imperative in healthcare. By incorporating a broad range of perspectives, experiences, and cultural competencies, we enhance our ability to provide effective, equitable and culturally competent care to an increasingly diverse patient population” states Joy Jones, Chief Program Officer for the Winn Awards. “By embracing diversity in medical education, the Winn CIPP seeks to cultivate a healthcare workforce that is better equipped to meet the diverse needs of our society.”
The Winn Awards consists of two main components; 1) the Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials: Career Development Award (Winn CDA) for early-stage investigator physicians who are from diverse backgrounds and/or committed to increasing diversity in clinical trials, and 2) the Winn CIPP for medical students who are underrepresented in medicine. Overall, the Winn Awards seeks to increase the number of community-oriented clinical trialists of diverse backgrounds who are committed to increasing inclusion, equity, and diversity in the conduct of clinical and translational research.
“Traditionally, the medical community has spoken about the future of research as hypotheticals; that is, another generation at another time will refine current scientific questions and processes,” said Robert A. Winn, director and Lipman Chair in Oncology at VCU Massey Cancer Center, who is the namesake of the Winn Awards. “What the Winn CIPP does is acknowledge that the future is, in fact, today. We are training medical students with immersive community-based experiences to learn from, grow from and implement throughout the entire continuum of their careers.”
Initiated in 2020, the Winn Awards is a five-year initiative established by the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation with a $100 million commitment to train and develop a new generation of community-oriented clinical trialists. In April 2021, Gilead Sciences joined as a program supporter with a funding commitment of $14 million. In January 2023, Amgen joined as a funding partner with an $8 million commitment. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is the program implementation partner and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the curriculum partner responsible for delivering the Robert A. Winn – AACR Design and Implementation of Clinical Trials Workshop. The program aims to train, develop, and mentor more than 308 diverse and community-oriented clinical trialists and 308 medical students by 2027.
“The Winn Awards are emblematic of the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation’s belief that inclusive and diverse representation in the medical profession and in clinical trials is key to improved science and patient outcomes,” said John Damonti, President, Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation (BMSF). “We welcome this new cohort of promising medical students to the Winn CIPP, and are delighted to help support their training. Together, we remain committed to empowering diversity in medical education and clinical trials, and feel confident that these future leaders will carry these skills and values with them as they develop in their careers.”
The below list follows this format:
Name
Institution
Program Supporter
Temitope Adeleke
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
Gilead
Theophilus Ahene-Akwa
Drexel University College of Medicine
BMSF
Malena Allbright
Albany Medical College
BMSF
OreOluwa Aluko
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
BMSF
Ruth Amaku
University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Greenville
BMSF
Udochukwu Amanamba
University of Florida College of Medicine
BMSF
Gabrianna Andrews
Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine
BMSF
Chioma Aneke
The Ohio State University College of Medicine
BMSF
Yosef Ansarizadeh
University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth – Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
BMSF
Patricia Arsuaga
Universidad Central del Caribe School of Medicine
BMSF
Mariah Bagneris
Tulane University School of Medicine
Gilead
Roshana Brown
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine
BMSF
Veronica Chacon
Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific
Gilead
Brett Davie
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
BMSF
Lianne De La Cruz
State University of New York Upstate Medical University College of Medicine
BMSF
Iyabo Erinkitola
University of Kentucky College of Medicine
BMSF
Faith Femi-Ogunyemi
University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth – Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
BMSF
Vanesa Figueredo
Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine
Gilead
Kiersten Gabaldon
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine
BMSF
Livingston Graham
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine
Gilead
Brianna Guillen
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
BMSF
Gianna Gutierrez
University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine
BMSF
Tiffany Hangse
Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine
Gilead
JT Huynh
University of California, Davis School of Medicine
BMSF
Ahmed Ibrahim
Medical College of Wisconsin
BMSF
Zainab Jimoh
University of Houston Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine
BMSF
Christian Kabongo
Tufts University School of Medicine
BMSF
Shemariah Kentish
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
BMSF
Nhu Le
Drexel University College of Medicine
Gilead
Suzette Lopez Valenzuela
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine
BMSF
Tobenna Mbonu
Albany Medical College
BMSF
Franck Mbuntcha Bogni
The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
BMSF
Alexa Montes De Oca
Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California
BMSF
Joana Mora
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
BMSF
Samiyyah Muhammad
Morehouse School of Medicine
BMSF
Katherine Danabet Narvaez Mena
State University of New York Upstate Medical University College of Medicine
BMSF
Christian Negron Rolon
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
BMSF
Derrik Nghiem
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
BMSF
Anne Nguyen
New York Medical College
BMSF
Diana Orabueze
Penn State College of Medicine
BMSF
Chelsea Pelayo
Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine
BMSF
Darian Perez
Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California
BMSF
Jason Ramirez
Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California
BMSF
Amani Sampson
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
BMSF
Emely Sandres
Mercer University School of Medicine
BMSF
Carissa Patricia Santos
The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University
BMSF
Zahida Sheikh
Tufts University School of Medicine
BMSF
Travis Terry
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
BMSF
Shakera Thomas
Morehouse School of Medicine
BMSF
Lensa Toka
University of Minnesota Medical School
BMSF
Katelynn Tran
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine
BMSF
Dana Tran
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
BMSF
Bao Ngan Tran
Lincoln Memorial University DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine
BMSF
Daryl Traylor
University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine
BMSF
Jessica Trinh
Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine
BMSF
Raymond Uduba
Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
BMSF
Daniel Ufearo
New York Medical College
BMSF
Daniel Umenwobi
New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine
BMSF
Marcos Vargas
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University College of Medicine
BMSF
Juan Ventura
The University of Texas Medical Branch John Sealy School of Medicine
BMSF
Andrea Vines
Drexel University College of Medicine
BMSF
Brian Wadugu
Carle Illinois College of Medicine
Gilead
LaTimberly Washington
University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine
BMSF
Angie Yossef
Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine
BMSF
Juan Carlos Zarate
University of California, Davis School of Medicine
Gilead
Christopher Zazueta
Eastern Virginia Medical School
Gilead
About Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a major, urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research. Located in downtown Richmond, VCU enrolls nearly 29,000 students in 238 degree and certificate programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Twenty-three of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU’s 11 schools and three colleges. For more, please visit vcu.edu.
About the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation
The Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, an independent charitable organization, focuses on communities most at risk of suffering the impacts of serious diseases in regions of the world that are hardest hit. It empowers partners to develop and test innovative solutions to advance health equity and improve access to quality healthcare for patients. Grant making focuses on cancer, cardiovascular disease, and immunologic disease, as well as clinical trial diversity in the United States, and prevalent cancers in nine African countries, Brazil and China. The mission of the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation is to promote health equity and improve the health outcomes of populations disproportionately affected by serious diseases by strengthening healthcare worker capacity, integrating medical care and community-based supportive services and mobilizing communities in the fight against disease. For more information, visit .
About Gilead Sciences, Inc.
Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that has pursued and achieved breakthroughs in medicine for more than three decades, with the goal of creating a healthier world for all people. The company is committed to advancing innovative medicines to prevent and treat life-threatening diseases, including HIV, viral hepatitis and cancer. Gilead operates in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California.
