Dr. Jose Carrillo, graduate student in Dr. John Song's lab, was awarded in May a $10,000 Graduate All-STAR Fellowship from the Graduate School in recognition of being an outstanding scholar and outstanding graduate assistant.
Dr. Jose Carrillo, graduate student in Dr. John Song's lab, was awarded in May a $10,000 Graduate All-S.T.A.R. Fellowship from the Graduate School in recognition of being an outstanding scholar and outstanding graduate assistant.
Dr. Carrillo is understandably elated to be awarded the fellowship. “When I received the announcement I got really excited. It is nice to be recognized for the hard work. The University of Maryland has excellent students and I am very proud to be a member of this institution,” he said. “The fellowship is a good incentive to continue pursuing our education and research goals.”
Approximately 4,000 UMD graduate students also serve as teaching, administrative, or research assistants. The Graduate All-S.T.A.R. (Scholarship, Teaching, Administration, Research) Fellowships are intended to support and honor graduate students who are both outstanding scholars and outstanding graduate assistants. Graduate All-S.T.A.R. Fellowships are awarded to graduate students in every department and college at University of Maryland and Dr. Carrillo was the winner for AGNR.
Since coming to the US, Dr. Carrillo has published in several peer-reviewed journals, participated in international meetings, and worked in Dr. Song’s lab focusing on genomics and epigenomics in different species of animals. Specifically, Dr. Carrillo has been investigating the effect of diet in the quality of beef. He and his fellow researchers believe that diet interacts with the cattle’s genome through epigenomic modifications that ultimately affect the quality and composition of beef. He also explores the epigenomic marks in different diseases in chicken, mice, and humans.
Dr. Carrillo credits his success in the field to ANSC. “The Department has always supported me in achieving my personal objectives. The Department provides the funds for my assistantship, permitting me to take the required classes and to perform my research project,” he says. “Additionally, the Department gave me the opportunity to improve my teaching skills while I participated, assisted and lectured in several undergrads courses. I would like to thank the Department members for my nomination for this prestigious award.”
As for the future, Dr. Carrillo hopes to graduate with a Ph.D. in late 2015. After that he plans to pursue a career in academia. With this fellowship award Dr. Carrillo looks to be on the right track to accomplish those goals.
