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2025 SUMMARY & 2026 FUNDING REQUEST

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The WMIS Postdoctoral Mentoring Program delivers structured, and personalized mentoring that accelerates scientific impact, career readiness, and community building for emerging leaders in molecular imaging. In 2025, 5 fellows received individualized mentorship across academia and industry, iterative feedback on abstracts and presentations for WMIC 2025, grant-writing guidance, and targeted professional development workshops. Outcomes included fellowships, peer-reviewed publications, invited oral presentations, and poster awards. We request support to sustain and refine the program in 2026 while keeping it lean and results-focused.

PROGRAM AT-A-GLANCE (2025)
  • Participants: 5 Postdoctoral Scholars selected from WMIS membership and Program Committee members.
  • Mentoring structure: monthly small-group/1:1 mentoring with cross-sector mentors; curated feedback rounds on abstracts/posters; career-readiness sessions.
  • Professional development: workshops on abstract writing/review, presentation construction, funding strategy, and career pathways.
  • Community: cohort-building events; introductions to WMIS leadership and topical interest groups.

Recruitment during WMIC 2025 (Anchorage, Alaska):

  • 17 prospective mentors expressed interest in participating in 2026
  • 14 postdocs/students expressed interest in applying to the 2026 cohort
2025 ACTIVITIES & DELIVERABLES

• Mentor–mentee pairing across academia and industry aligned to trainee interests.

Academic Mentors
  • Peter Caravan
    Mass General Brigham – Harvard Medical School
  • Agata Exner
    Case Western Reserve University
  • Eric Gale
    Mass General Brigham – Harvard Medical School
  • Andre F. Martins
    University of Tübingen
  • Anna Wu
    City of Hope
Industry Mentors
  • Freek Beekman
    TU Delft
  • Lindsey Drake
    Bristol Myers Squibb
  • Shuyan Du
    Bristol Myers Squibb
  • Su-Tang (Tom) Lo
    RayzeBio
  • Corey Miller
    Merck

• Abstract & presentation (talk/poster) crafting with iterative reviews.

How to craft a winning WMIC abstract
  • Veronica Clavijo Jordan, Ph.D.
    Mass General Brigham – Harvard Medical School
Practice Presentations I&II
  • WMIS Postdoctoral Mentoring Committee

• Career development workshops with carefully curated panelists (grant strategy, job-market navigation, lab set-up scenarios, industry transitions)

Declaring Independence I: Career paths in academia & How to set up your lab
  • Caroline Gluglielmetti, Ph.D.
    Washington University in St. Louis
  • Andre Martins, Ph.D.
    Eberhard Karls University Tübingen.
  • Naomi Matsuura, Ph.D.
    University of Toronto
  • Scott Beeman, Ph.D.
    Arizona State University
Declaring Independence II: From academia to industry
  • Freek Beekman, Ph.D.
    Founder and CEO, Free Bee International Founder of MILabs
  • Myriam Chaumiel, Ph.D.
    Head of Research, NVision Imaging Technologies GmbH
  • Su-Tang “Tom” Lo, Ph.D.
    Director of Molecular Imaging, RayzeBio, Inc. a Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Navigating the research funding landscape
  • Peter Caravan, Ph.D. Mass General Brigham – Harvard Medical School
  • Patricia Ribeiro Pereira, Ph.D.
    Washington University at St. Louis
  • Ferdia Gallagher, PhD. FRCR, FRCP
    University of Cambridge
2025 OUTCOMES (SELECTED)

2025 Postdoc Cohort

Juan A. Azcona

Cornell University

Kaamini M. Dhanabala

 UC Santa Barbara

Aeli P. Olson

Mayo Clinic

Derrick Rosario-Berrios

University of Pennsylvania

Karla Ximena Vazquez Prada

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

  • 5 Postdocs ➔ 6 abstracts
  • Average score = 2.4 (1.3 – 3.6)
  • Special Recognition ➔ Poster award — Bioengineering, Synthetic Biology, & Basic Biology
TESTIMONIALS
FROM POSTDOC’S PIs
“The feedback he received directed him to clearly and concisely communicate his findings to a general audience, highlight the novelty of his work, and become a strong advocate for his ideas… There is no doubt that [his] proposals will be even more competitive as a result of his participation in the WMIS Mentorship Program.”
James Kelly, Ph.D.Weill Cornell Medicine
“Being connected to individuals who begin the conversation with, how can they help you become a better scientist in academics was invaluable… All seminars were well designed… and gave her the opportunity to gain deep insight wrought from the experience of others.”
Mukesh K. Pandey, Ph.D.Mayo Clinic
“Derick was thoughtfully paired with two mentors-one from industry and one from academia… While enrolled, Derick… was awarded a T90 postdoctoral fellowship… published two first author papers… and was selected for an oral presentation at the 2025 WMIC meeting.”
David P. Cormode, Ph.DUniversity of Pennsylvania
“The Postdoctoral Mentoring Program provides a structured environment that facilitates networking opportunities for career advancement and fosters cross-disciplinary collaborations… I was pleasantly surprised when the abstract and poster drafts appeared to be in a ready-to-deploy state… result of the personalized guidance and feedback she received from her Program Mentors.”
Arnab Mukherjee, Ph.D.UC Santa Barbara
FROM POSTDOCS
“The WMIS Postdoc Mentorship Program has been invaluable in my career. Beyond the financial support that made conference participation possible, it connected me with mentors, peers, and former mentees from all professional stages and perspectives, providing a more holistic and integral formation. The fellowship allowed me to focus fully on networking and learning, so I could get the most out of every opportunity. It continues to guide my career as I take the next steps, and I hope to still learn and grow from this supportive network.”
Karla Vazquez Prada, Ph.D.Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
“The fellowship has supported us not only through travel stipends and registration waivers, but more importantly, by providing us with access to a network of mentors and faculty members whose insights have been invaluable.”
Kaamini Dhanalaban, Ph.D. UC Santa Barbara
“The postdoctoral mentoring program sharpened our ability to present scientific ideas with clarity and impact, while also engaging us in a multifaceted network of mentors committed to our success.”
Juan Azcona, Ph.D.Cornell University
2025 FINANCIAL SUMMARY
  • Revenue (donations + jacket sales): $2,300
  • Program costs (reception, postdoc stipends, merch purchase): $9,329.28
  • Net (2025): –$7,029.28
  • Future revenue from jacket sales: $2,100

A CSV snapshot of these figures is included in the packet.

2026 BUDGET FRAMEWORK & REQUEST
Line item Rationale Requested amount
Cohort events — WMIC reception
Community building; cohort + mentor networking
$3,000
Trainee micro-grants
Travel/participation support; scales with cohort size <$1000/trainee
$5,000 – $10,000
Recognition—personalized jacket
Personalized jacket for trainee(s); certificates
~$500
Core operations
Coordination/communications/evaluation
Pro bono ($0)
Workshop talks & series
Abstracts, grants, talks, careers
Pro bono ($0)
Contingency
Unforeseen needs
$1,000

Total 2026 request: $9.5k–$14.5k (cohort-size dependent).

2026 PROGRAM PLAN
  • Recruit & match: cross-sector mentor pool; intentional pairings based on interest survey.
  • Skills sprints: abstract → poster/oral pipeline; grant-framing clinics; interview panels.
  • Cohort management & scheduling: predictable cadence; efficient communications; rolling office hours.
  • Outcomes tracking: publications, awards, fellowships, job offers; rapid-cycle surveys.
  • Recognition: cohort graduation; awards; sponsor visibility.

Metrics

  • Participation: # mentees, # mentors, # sessions/mentee, attendance rate
  • Scholarly outputs: # abstracts submitted/accepted, # posters/orals, # publications, # grants submitted/awarded
  • Career outcomes: interviews, offers, transitions (acad/industry), lab set-ups
  • Satisfaction: mentee/mentor surveys; qualitative themes
APPENDICES
  • Appendix A — Full Testimonials (letters on letterhead)
  • Appendix B — 2025 Financials (2025 Revenues and costs)
  • Appendix C — 2025 Program Materials (ceremony highlights)
CONTACT

Veronica Clavijo Jordan, Ph.D.

2026 Program Chair
Massachusetts General Hospital – Harvard Medical School

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