Yale University

Dr. Trace Kershaw Receives Mentor Award

CIRA's Dr. Trace Kershaw has been selected as Yale School of Public Health 2015 Distinguished Student Mentor. The Award is a high honor that recognizes the recipient as a leader in shaping the next generation of public health professionals and one who, among other traits, serves as a role model for their students and encourages students to grow and achieve their full potential

Dr. Kershaw also provides an unparalleled level of one-to-one support to numerous pre and post-doctoral fellows at CIRA. As Director of the T32 HIV Prevention Training Program, he gives weekly mentorship and guidance to all of the program’s fellows. "Trace has an approach to mentorship that is just as much about learning as it is about teaching", said current post-doc fellow, Amy Smoyer. "While his fellows may work on his data or projects related to his substantive areas of interest, he also welcomes scholars focused on seemingly distant issues, demonstrating an eagerness to expand his own horizons though his mentees' work. He is consistently good-humored, low-key, and optimistic – a perfect antidote to the uncertain new investigator who seeks to organize and define her academic career."

The value of Dr. Kershaw's mentorship was further highlighted by Jon Atherton, administrator of CIRA's T32 fellowship since 2008. "Trace really sets the tone for mentorship at the Center, and I think across Yale and more widely. Scholars leave here having developed their research careers, but Trace's influence is also creating future leaders and progressive mentors, and this has a profoundly positive effect on academia. His investment is all about seeing the fellows succeed. He enjoys science and that’s something that really rubs off on everyone", he said.

Dr. Kershaw serves as Director of CIRA's Interdisciplinary Research Methods Core and is also Director of the Research Education Institute for Diverse Scholars. The YSPH award is his third in recent years.



Published: Monday, May 11, 2015