Member News

Ali, Falade, Usman selected for mentoring program

ASBMB Today Staff
Jan. 13, 2025
Bashir Ali
Omolara Falade
Olalekan Usman

Bashir Ali, Omolara Falade and Olalekan Usman have been selected to participate in the Scientist Mentoring & Diversity Program for Biotechnology, or SMDP. The program pairs ethnically diverse students and early career researchers with industry mentors in the medical technology, biotechnology and consumer healthcare industries for one year.

Ali is a graduate student at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He performs research in Assistant Professor Brooke Gardner’s laboratory on the function of substrate binding domains of the enzyme peroxisomal biogenesis factor 1 and factor 6 in peroxisome biogenesis. In 2020, he won a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

Falade is a graduate student at Texas A&M University pursuing her Doctor of Pharmacy degree. She is also an AbbVie EMERGE Program Scholar and completed an internship with the Federal Drug Administration in 2024.

Usman is a graduate student at Florida State University. He is studying the mechanobiology of cancer progression with Assistant Professor Jerome Irianto at FSU. In 2023, Usman completed an internship with Eli Lilly and Company.

Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?

Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition monthly.

Learn more
ASBMB Today Staff

This article was written by a member or members of the ASBMB Today staff.

Get the latest from ASBMB Today

Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.

Latest in People

People highlights or most popular articles

How undergrad research catalyzes scientific careers
Essay

How undergrad research catalyzes scientific careers

Aug. 27, 2025

Undergraduate research doesn’t just teach lab skills, it transforms scientists. For Antonio Rivera and Julissa Cruz–Bautista, joining a lab became a turning point, fostering critical thinking, persistence and research identity.

Simcox and Gisriel receive mentoring award
Member News

Simcox and Gisriel receive mentoring award

Aug. 25, 2025

They were honored for contributing their time, knowledge, energy and enthusiasm to mentoring postdocs in their labs.

ASBMB names 2025 Marion B. Sewer scholarship recipients
Society News

ASBMB names 2025 Marion B. Sewer scholarship recipients

Aug. 21, 2025

Ten undergraduates interested in biochemistry and molecular biology will each receive $2,000 toward their tuition and related educational costs.

Attie named honorary professor
Member News

Attie named honorary professor

Aug. 18, 2025

This award includes $100,000 of research funding and recognizes faculty who have made major contributions to the advancement of knowledge through their research, teaching and service activities.

Meet the 2025 SOC grant awardees
Outreach

Meet the 2025 SOC grant awardees

Aug. 15, 2025

Five science outreach and communication projects received up to $1,000 from ASBMB to promote the understanding of molecular life science.

Unraveling cancer’s spaghetti proteins
Profile

Unraveling cancer’s spaghetti proteins

Aug. 13, 2025

MOSAIC scholar Katie Dunleavy investigates how Aurora kinase A shields oncogene c-MYC from degradation, using cutting-edge techniques to uncover new strategies targeting “undruggable” molecules.