“[Amber] has authored 36 publications, gaining over 2,000 total citations, a remarkable achievement for a postdoc. ...Since joining Brown 2 years ago, she has published 7 first-author papers (multiple in high-impact journals), advancing research on prenatal chemical exposures in the context of pediatric and maternal health. Notably, her use of untargeted metabolomics in human research represents a novel approach, providing important insights on the impact of chemical exposures on biological pathways in pregnant people and their children. Amber’s research has already attracted international attention, with media coverage by The Guardian, The Hill, US News & World Report, and others. At Brown, her work has been recognized with awards at Public Health Research Day and the Postdoctoral Research Symposium... In 2025, Amber has already filmed an interview with the Canadian Broadcast Corporation and has been invited to appear on the podcast Humans in Public Health to discuss her groundbreaking work on PFAS and personal care product use during pregnancy.”

“Upon arriving at Brown, Catherine jumped in on several projects related to the use of AI-enabled chatbots to support university students with navigating administrative and academic aspects of student life. ...In our work on AI-enabled chatbots, Catherine has been instrumental in crafting both the science the business ends of several research grants. Catherine was included as co-PI on these proposals. Two multi-year grants – one from the Ascendium Education Foundation and one from the US Department of Education – have been funded. ...For one of these projects, Catherine led the testing of different randomization schemes for assessing the effects of a course-based chatbot in a large-enrollment undergraduate course. This fall, she led the writing of the paper to report on this work and presented it with exceptional clarity at an academic conference. She plans to submit the paper for publication early in 2025. ...In addition to these projects, Catherine has continued to move forward with her own body of work – illustrating her ability to juggle multiple streams of research. In the last year, she (together with colleagues) has published a paper in the International Journal of Educational Development, a book chapter on transforming informal work in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, and a paper in Education Finance and Policy focused on alternative pathways to graduation for students who fail high school exit exams in the US context.”

“While at Brown, Debbie has built community and created networking opportunities for junior trainees. In 2022,  Debbie co-organized the Growing Up in Aging Neuroscience Symposium... For 2 years, Debbie served on the organizing committee for the Carney Institute’s external postdoctoral seminar series, which enabled the entire Brown brain science community of faculty members, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate and undergraduate students to learn about new innovative research being conducted by postdoctoral peers from outside institutions. In 2024, along with co-organizer Dr. Darcy Diesburg, Debbie organized an overnight retreat for postdocs in Brown’s Brain Science community. ...Debbie and Darcy identified a void in our community, wrote a proposal, presented it to Institute leadership, got a budget approved, and organized a 36 hour retreat on Cape Cod for 20 postdocs from 4 departments...The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Debbie is dedicated to creating community for postdocs in brain science at Brown and is an exemplary candidate for this award.”