Awards Nomination
Do you want to recognize a woman mentor who has helped you or others in personal career development?
Each year the AWIS-NCC presents awards to women who have combined their professional activities with support of other women in science. AWIS-NCC will give three awards that recognize this important support for women in science, and awards will be presented at the annual NCC summer award gala!
Nominating someone is easy. Write a letter explaining how the person has helped other women develop professionally. Include a brief professional history to allow us to determine which of the three award categories is appropriate:
Judith Pool Award: To recognize a woman established in her field (>10 years), who is working to advance research or technology in academia or industry.
Ellen Weaver Award: To recognize a woman, who is early in her career (<10 years) and working to advance research or technology in academia or industry.
Sherrie Wilkins Award: To recognize a woman using her science away from the bench (e.g management, teaching, consulting).
Each year the AWIS-NCC presents awards to women who have combined their professional activities with support of other women in science. AWIS-NCC will give three awards that recognize this important support for women in science, and awards will be presented at the annual NCC summer award gala!
Nominating someone is easy. Write a letter explaining how the person has helped other women develop professionally. Include a brief professional history to allow us to determine which of the three award categories is appropriate:
Judith Pool Award: To recognize a woman established in her field (>10 years), who is working to advance research or technology in academia or industry.
Ellen Weaver Award: To recognize a woman, who is early in her career (<10 years) and working to advance research or technology in academia or industry.
Sherrie Wilkins Award: To recognize a woman using her science away from the bench (e.g management, teaching, consulting).
Past AWIS-NCC Awards Recipients
Awards and Scholarships presented at the Annual Banquet held by the Northern California Chapters of AWIS (AWIS-NCC). The banquet is held every year to celebrate the contributions of women scientists.
Past Award Recipients
Sherrie Wilkins Award
This award recognizes a woman using her science away from the bench who is committed to mentoring.
This award was renamed for Sherrie Wilkins in 2012
This award recognizes a woman who is in a research function, is early in her career and takes time to mentor.
This award recognizes a woman who is in a research function, is well along in her career and takes time to mentor.
Scholarships
Scholarships are given to women at community colleges (De Anza or Foothill) who are in a STEM discipline and hope to transfer to a 4-year university. Applicants are chosen each year by our scholarship committee and are announced at the spring Banquet.
Kristi Lin Chrispell Forbes Memorial Scholarship
This Palo Alto chapter scholarship commemorates Kristi Lin Chrispell Forbes, PhD, who died in a car accident in April 2003. Dr. Forbes, the quintessential researcher-scientist, studied the cell cycle of caulobacter and the fission yeast, S. Pombe.She received a bachelor's degree in Chemistry at Well College where she graduated summa cum laude, then earned her doctorate in Genetics at Harvard University. She had recently completed a post-doctoral position at Stanford investigating genetics and the cell cycle. At 32, she had just gotten married.
Dr. Forbes was a member of AWIS and active as a science fair judge at the Synopsis Championship and at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. She was a violinist member of teh Peninsula Orchestra, a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, and an avid dancer and skier. She is greatly missed by her husband, family, and friends.
Iris Ferber Memorial Scholarship
Iris Ferber, born on March 29, 1965, grew up in Schwetzingen, Germany. A talented woman scientist, she embodied the spirit and mission of AWIS- mentoring, community service, and excellence in science. Iris pursued her university degree in human biology and Marburg University and fell in love with biology research. she received her Ph.D. from German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg where she discovered a novel mechanism fo T cell tolerance. The work, published in Science in 1993, is still considered a seminal result in the field. She did a post-doc at Stanford University, where she tested a hypothesis that the proinflammatory cytokine interferon gamma was critical for autoimmune diseases like MS and diabetes. Again, her results culminated in a seminal paper showing that this very popular theory was not true. Iris was not dissuaded by the naysayers who did not want to believe this important finding. She always pursued the truth, trusted the data, and encouraged her fellow scientists to do the same in their interpretation of science.Iris fell in love with California and went to work as a senior fellow at DNAX Institute. She chose to work in drug discovery research at Geron and then at Sierra Biosource, rising in just a fwe years from scientist to director level before becoming the Chief Technical Officer of a spin-off company from Sierra Biosource. She finally became Director of Pre-Clnical Pathology at Anesiva in South San Francisco. Her commitment to the education of young scientists and women scientists was evident in her volunteer work with AWIS and her role as Secretary of the AWIS Palo Alto Chapter. It was also evident in her daily life, through dedicated mentoring of undergraduates, graduate students, and helping those making career transitions. She loved science and her eyes would light up when she talked about her work and helping people.
Fong-Yi (Caroline) Bih Memorial Scholarship
Fong-Yi (Caroline) Bih served as a Board member for Palo Alto AWIS from 2001-2004. She was Chapter Vice-President, Co-Chaired the Mentoring Program, served on the Program Committee and was an active Outreach volunteer, sharing with kids and younger scientists the excitement of scientific discoveryIn 2002, Caroline joined the Chinese Bioscience Association. There, she hosted a research conference on SARS and organized 'Bioscience Careers in the 21st Century', a conference for high school students. She was a moderator of an entrepreneur panel at the first CBA Boot Camp. Early in 2007, Caroline became President-elect of CBA. She had plans for a mentor program for CBA members which unfortunately she did not have time to develop.
Caroline grew up in Taiwan and had an adventurous spirit. She received her Ph.D. at UC Riverside and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley. She worked as a molecular biologist at PPD Discovery and at Microgenetics. She was a great friend and colleague who was engaged a few months before she fell ill.
The Fong-Yih-(Caroline)Bih Memorial Scholarship was establieshed by the Palo Alto AWIS Chapter and Chinese Bioscience Association, to honour our friend. She passed away on May 31, 2007 due to brain cancer at the age of 45.
Past Award Recipients
Sherrie Wilkins Award
This award recognizes a woman using her science away from the bench who is committed to mentoring.
- 2022 Sara Farahmand, PhD, ParmD, Edgewell Personal Care
- 2021 Mitra Kashanchi, M.S., Chevron Chemicals
- 2020 Deborah Ovadia, M.S., Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc.
- 2019 Manjula Chinnappa, Ph.D., Personalis, Inc.
- 2018 Janice Zdankus, MBA, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- 2017 Olga, Potapova, Ph.D., Cureline, Inc.
- 2016 Tracy Lin, R.Ph., Johnson and Johnson
- 2015 Jennifer Saltzman, Ph.D., Stanford University
- 2014 Bonnie Charpentier, Ph.D., Cytokinetics
- 2013 Roopa Ramamoorthi, Ph.D., BIO Ventures for Global Health
- 2012 Michelle Runge, Ph.D., Genentech Inc.
This award was renamed for Sherrie Wilkins in 2012
- 2011 Patricia Chandler Seawell, Ph.D.
- 2010 Toby Beth Freedman, Ph.D. Author "Career Opportunities in Biotechnology and Drug Development"
- 2009 Sherrie Fasola Wilkins, Ph.D., Community Breast Health Project
- 2008 Doris E. Davis, RN, BSN, BABCN
- 2007 Monica A. Rosoff, Genentech
- 2006 Audrey S. Erbes
- 2005 Carol Muller, Ph.D., Mentornet
- 2004 Susan L. Bernhard, Ph.D., Elan Pharmaceuticals
- 2003 Krishna Ghosh, Ph.D., Agilent Corp.
- 2002 Elise Brownell, Ph.D., Bayor Corp.
- 2001 Coreen Booth, B.Sc., Consultant
- 2000 Amy E. Ryken, M.P.H., BBEI and Laney College
This award recognizes a woman who is in a research function, is early in her career and takes time to mentor.
- 2022 Qianni Dong, PhD, Bayer
- 2021 Violet Votin, Ph.D., Machaon Diagnostics
- 2020 Andrea Schmidt, Ph.D., Lawrence Livermore National Lab
- 2019 Kim Williams, Ph.D., Fibrogen, Inc.
- 2018 Kelly Lee, Ph.D., Senti Biosciences
- 2017 Fan Yang, Ph.D., Stanford University
- 2016 Wendy Fantl, Ph.D., Stanford University
- 2015 Christina D. Smolke, Ph.D., Stanford University
- 2014 Melissa Cline, Ph.D., UCSC
- 2013 Becket Feierbach, Ph.D., Genentech Inc.
- 2012 Amy Herr, Ph.D., UC Berkeley
- 2011 Angelique Y. Louie, Ph.D., UC Davis
- 2010 Nadine C. Gassner, Ph.D., UCSC
- 2009 Juliet V. Spencer, Ph.D., USF
- 2008 Angela I.M. Barth, Ph.D., Stanford University
- 2007 Adina Paytan, Ph.D., Stanford University
- 2006 Wendy B. Levine, Ph.D., Genemed Biotechnologies
- 2005 Rebecca MacKenzie, M.S., Roche Bioscience
- 2004 Maureen A. Sharberg, Ph.D., San Jose State University
- 2003 Katy Kuo Korsmeyer, Ph.D., SCCBEP
- 2002 Kimberly Tanner, Ph.D., UCSF
- 2001 Sharron Penn, Ph.D., Aeomica
- 2000 Kathryn M. Stephens, Ph.D., GeneTrace
- 1999 Rosario C. Denoga, Bayer Corp.
- 1998 Aurora Sosa, M.A., Bayer Corp.
- 1997 Rona G. Giffard, M.D., Ph.D., Stanford University
- 1996 Deborah Bravo, Ph.D., Bayer Corp.
This award recognizes a woman who is in a research function, is well along in her career and takes time to mentor.
- 2022 Rivka Sherman-Gold, PhD, MBA, Advisor
- 2021 Ingrid Oakley-Girvan, Ph.D., MPH, Medable, Inc.
- 2020 Tejal Desai, Ph.D., UCSF
- 2019 Katherine Ferrara, Ph.D., Stanford University
- 2018 Yasmin Chandrasekher, Ph.D., Allertope, Inc.
- 2017 Laura Smoliar, Ph.D., Global Innovation Foundry, LLC
- 2016 Leilani Miller, Ph.D., Santa Clara University
- 2015 Susan W. Lindgren, Ph.D., CSU Sacramento
- 2014 Deanna Kroetz, Ph.D., UCSF
- 2013 Telle Whitney, Ph.D., President Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology
- 2012 Marlene Rabinovitch, M.D., Stanford University
- 2011 Tonya L. Kuhl, Ph.D., UC Davis
- 2010 Patricia R. Burchat, Ph.D., Stanford University (Physics)
- 2009 Helen E. Moore, Ph.D.
- 2008 Marilyn Winkeby, Ph.D., Stanford University
- 2007 Ann Reisenauer, Ph.D., SJSU
- 2006 Gail Schechter, Ph.D., BioIntelligence
- 2005 Dora Games, Ph.D., Elan Pharmaceuticals
- 2004 Elaine S. Yamaguchi, Ph.D., Chevron Oronite
- 2003 Carolyn M. Kane, Ph.D., UC Berkeley
- 2002 Sheila McCormick, Ph.D., UCDA-ARS
- 2001 Paula Jardieu, Ph.D., Genentech
- 2000 Paula J. Sadle, Ph.D., Bayer Corp.
- 1999 Cherrill M. Spencer, Ph.D., SLAC
- 1998 Phyllis Gardner, M.D., Alza Corp.
- 1997 Kathelyn Sue Steimer, PH.D., Chiron Corp.
- 1996 Lynda J. Goff, Ph.D., UC Santa Cruz
- 1995 Ellen Weaver, Ph.D., Professor Emerita, San Jose State University
Scholarships
Scholarships are given to women at community colleges (De Anza or Foothill) who are in a STEM discipline and hope to transfer to a 4-year university. Applicants are chosen each year by our scholarship committee and are announced at the spring Banquet.
Kristi Lin Chrispell Forbes Memorial Scholarship
This Palo Alto chapter scholarship commemorates Kristi Lin Chrispell Forbes, PhD, who died in a car accident in April 2003. Dr. Forbes, the quintessential researcher-scientist, studied the cell cycle of caulobacter and the fission yeast, S. Pombe.She received a bachelor's degree in Chemistry at Well College where she graduated summa cum laude, then earned her doctorate in Genetics at Harvard University. She had recently completed a post-doctoral position at Stanford investigating genetics and the cell cycle. At 32, she had just gotten married.
Dr. Forbes was a member of AWIS and active as a science fair judge at the Synopsis Championship and at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. She was a violinist member of teh Peninsula Orchestra, a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, and an avid dancer and skier. She is greatly missed by her husband, family, and friends.
- 2022 Siyi Song, Foothill College
- 2021 Maria Khan, De Anza College & Linh Pham, De Anza College
- 2020 Bernice Webber, De Anza College & Vy (khanh) Pham, Foothill College
- 2019 Narmin Mammadsoy, De Anza College
- 2018 Jocelyn Cervantes, Foothill College
- 2017 Zhengzheng Li, Foothill College
- 2016 Jackie Do, De Anza College
- 2015 Rachel Meyer, Foothill College
- 2014 Miriam Wierzchula, Foothill College
- 2013 Anastasia Borovich, Foothill College
- 2012 Felicia Hoehnle, De Anza College
- 2011 Reta Sarsam, De Anza College
- 2010 Shaoai Yan, De Anza College
- 2009 Rachel Alice Silili Mbassa, Foothill College
- 2008 Debra Schlee, Foothill College
- 2007 Uyen Pham, De Anza College
- 2006 Bonnie A. Bea, De Anza College
- 2004 Teresa Kinnet, De Anza College
Iris Ferber Memorial Scholarship
Iris Ferber, born on March 29, 1965, grew up in Schwetzingen, Germany. A talented woman scientist, she embodied the spirit and mission of AWIS- mentoring, community service, and excellence in science. Iris pursued her university degree in human biology and Marburg University and fell in love with biology research. she received her Ph.D. from German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg where she discovered a novel mechanism fo T cell tolerance. The work, published in Science in 1993, is still considered a seminal result in the field. She did a post-doc at Stanford University, where she tested a hypothesis that the proinflammatory cytokine interferon gamma was critical for autoimmune diseases like MS and diabetes. Again, her results culminated in a seminal paper showing that this very popular theory was not true. Iris was not dissuaded by the naysayers who did not want to believe this important finding. She always pursued the truth, trusted the data, and encouraged her fellow scientists to do the same in their interpretation of science.Iris fell in love with California and went to work as a senior fellow at DNAX Institute. She chose to work in drug discovery research at Geron and then at Sierra Biosource, rising in just a fwe years from scientist to director level before becoming the Chief Technical Officer of a spin-off company from Sierra Biosource. She finally became Director of Pre-Clnical Pathology at Anesiva in South San Francisco. Her commitment to the education of young scientists and women scientists was evident in her volunteer work with AWIS and her role as Secretary of the AWIS Palo Alto Chapter. It was also evident in her daily life, through dedicated mentoring of undergraduates, graduate students, and helping those making career transitions. She loved science and her eyes would light up when she talked about her work and helping people.
- 2012-2013 Combined Chrispell/Ferber/Bih Scholarship
- 2009-2012 Combined Chrispell/Ferber Scholarship
- 2008 Suiting He, Foothill College
- 2007 Nithakan Chou, De Anza College
Fong-Yi (Caroline) Bih Memorial Scholarship
Fong-Yi (Caroline) Bih served as a Board member for Palo Alto AWIS from 2001-2004. She was Chapter Vice-President, Co-Chaired the Mentoring Program, served on the Program Committee and was an active Outreach volunteer, sharing with kids and younger scientists the excitement of scientific discoveryIn 2002, Caroline joined the Chinese Bioscience Association. There, she hosted a research conference on SARS and organized 'Bioscience Careers in the 21st Century', a conference for high school students. She was a moderator of an entrepreneur panel at the first CBA Boot Camp. Early in 2007, Caroline became President-elect of CBA. She had plans for a mentor program for CBA members which unfortunately she did not have time to develop.
Caroline grew up in Taiwan and had an adventurous spirit. She received her Ph.D. at UC Riverside and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley. She worked as a molecular biologist at PPD Discovery and at Microgenetics. She was a great friend and colleague who was engaged a few months before she fell ill.
The Fong-Yih-(Caroline)Bih Memorial Scholarship was establieshed by the Palo Alto AWIS Chapter and Chinese Bioscience Association, to honour our friend. She passed away on May 31, 2007 due to brain cancer at the age of 45.
- 2012 Combined Chrispell/Ferber/Bih Scholarship
- 2011 Lina Ma, Foothill College
- 2010 Millicent Bogue, Foothill College
- 2009 Marisol Patino-Orozoco, De Anza College
- 2008 Quynh Mai Nguyen, De Anza College
- 2007 Claudia Caballero, De Anza College
- 2006 Nguyen N. Nguyen, De Anza College
- 2005 Po Chi Ceinlus Wong, De Anza College
- 2004 Teresa Kinnet, De Anza College
- 2003 Carole Foster, De Anza College
- 2002 Janice Chan, De Anza College
- 2001 Giselle Sylvester, De Anza College
- 2000 Monglan Duong, Foothill College
- 2000 Vankhanh Tran, Foothill College
- 1999 Alison Kang, De Anza College
- 1999 Mihalia Popescu, Foothill College
- 1998 Lan-Chih Wang, De Anza College
- 1998 Sophia Bornstein, Foothill College
- 1997 Trang Vo, De Anza College
- 1997 Diana Wiszowaty, Foothill College