This year, 43 scholars are joining a program built on a simple but powerful idea: mentoring works better as a network, not a single relationship. Over the 2026-27 academic year, Pathway Program scholars will receive mentorship and professional development support tailored to their career stage and research goals. Seminars, individualized mentoring, and a cohort-based learning experience are designed to help them push past the roadblocks that too often stall careers in academia.
The Pathway Program experience has supported scholars across the UW–Madison campus since 2022. To date, the program has supported 132 scholars through four distinct program tracks—ADEPT, AHEAD, STRIDE, and LEADS—each built for scholars whose paths to and through academia haven’t followed the traditional script.
While each group has distinct needs, participants share common threads: navigating multiple roles, building the resources to succeed professionally, and tapping into a network that fuels lifelong learning and lasting success. By meeting these shared professional development needs, the program gives scholars a foundation for long-term career success and helps build the critical mass of scholars and mentors it takes to shift academic culture for good.
The accomplishments of Pathway Program alumni provide compelling evidence of program impact. Program alumni have secured faculty and leadership positions across the nation, disseminated their innovations via patents, and obtained competitive extramural research funding from organizations including the NIH, NSF, CDC, and DOJ. Many are now mentors themselves, bringing their lessons learned to others at UW–Madison.
These accomplishments are proof of what a networked approach to mentoring and coaching can accomplish, and a preview of what’s ahead for this new cohort. We look forward to seeing this new cohort thrive at UW–Madison and beyond.
Congratulations to all the 2026-2027 Pathway Program Scholars!
ADEPT scholars (part-time PhD students): Beverly Hutcherson, Jennifer Van Matre-Wattles, Narmella Yasoubi, Nicole Weber, Abram Becker, Katherine Blue
AHEAD scholars (postdoctoral students): Brittanni Wright, Anumitha Venkatraman, Jie Cai, Ru Jia, Sanjai Pillala, Mohammad Yaghoobi, Meareg Amare, Matias Fabregat, Guillermo Najarro, Jessica Perciaccante, Bonyan Qudah
STRIDE scholars: 1.0 (early-career faculty): Neil Christensen, Ella Christoph, Brianna Jackson, Carlos Padilla, Jingxi Sheng, Laura Solano, Paula Voorheis, Gabrielle Winston-McPherson; 2.0: Bolanle Famakin, Shan He, Kyesha Isadore, Shinye Kim, Johnny Uelmen
LEADS scholars (mid-career faculty): Jonathan Engle, Nan Li, Maichou Lor, Colleen McDowell, Irene Ong, Michael Pulia, Tyler Ulland, Cara Westmark, Brooke Ammerman, Filiz Yesilkoy, Wei Guo
Funding for the project was provided by the UW School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) from the Wisconsin Partnership Program through a strategic grant administered by the SMPH Office of Basic Research, Biotechnology and Graduate Studies.