{"id":13726,"date":"2025-09-30T15:00:34","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T15:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/collegetrack.wpenginepowered.com\/?post_type=press&p=13726"},"modified":"2026-07-17T03:03:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T03:03:26","slug":"jaela-caston-college-track-alumna-selected-as-hhmi-gilliam-fellow","status":"publish","type":"scholar_story","link":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/scholar-stories\/jaela-caston-college-track-alumna-selected-as-hhmi-gilliam-fellow\/","title":{"rendered":"Jaela Caston, College Track Alumna selected as HHMI Gilliam Fellow"},"template":"","community_tax":[154],"partner":[],"program":[],"class_list":["post-13726","scholar_story","type-scholar_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","community_tax-san-francisco-ca"],"acf":{"details":{"featured_image":13727,"authors":"","abstract":"","helper_taxonomies":{"article_type":false,"community_tax":[154],"partner":false,"program":false,"role":false,"region":false}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"Our scholars constantly remind us of the immense value of College Track\u2019s work. Jaela, a College Track alumna part of the <\/span>College Track San Francisco<\/b><\/a> Class of 2019, exemplifies this impact as she transforms lives, purposes, and communities.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cRemain curious. Remain open to asking as many questions without feeling ashamed and not knowing,\u201d Jaela remarked during our recent interview with her.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nInnovation and curiosity have defined Jaela\u2019s journey, and her commitment to advancing opportunities for herself and others lies at the forefront of her focus.\u00a0 Now a fourth-year graduate student in the BioMedical Sciences program at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), her passion for neurodevelopment<\/span> has opened many doors, including a prestigious honor and acceptance into the <\/span>Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Gilliam Fellowship<\/b><\/a>. <\/span>Jaela<\/b><\/a>\u2019s research examines how neural stem cells in the human brain communicate with blood vessels to create a vascular network architecture, shaping brain function and its transition into adulthood. At UCSF, Jaela collaborates with her PhD mentor and now Gilliam Fellows advisor, Dr. Elizabeth Crouch, who notably studies blood vessels in the brain.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nThis research has the power to change lives. The HHMI fellowship strengthens that impact by fostering the next generation of scientific leaders through financial support, resources, and opportunities for exploration in their fields. Jaela secured one of only 30 seats from a pool of 800+ applicants, joining the program\u2019s final cohort.<\/span>\r\n\r\nJaela learned about the HHMI Gilliam Fellowship when she was a junior specialist lab technician in the Ansel lab at UCSF. Drawn to its strong sense of community, it reminded her of how much she flourished in supportive spaces like <\/span>College Track<\/b>. And, the best part about this fellowship? The Gilliam Fellows Program provides PhD students with up to three years of PhD dissertation support in addition to professional development workshops. Her graduate experience is now <\/span>fully funded, <\/b>thanks to the work she\u2019s put in.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nLeadership and community have long been part of Jaela\u2019s story. As an inaugural member of the FirstGen Internship program, created in partnership with Emerson Collective, Jaela and other College Track scholars were able to participate in research internships spanning arts & media, education, environment, health, innovation, and law & justice. Inspired and determined, Jaela created a summer course for younger First-Gen College Track interns <\/span>called the <\/span>ImmunoDiverse summer crash course<\/span> in the aftermath of her experience. The ImmunoDiverse course focuses on teaching immunology basics designed to aid students throughout their summer internships, and has remained active, growing from 8 students to 60 registered students as of Summer 2025. In addition to immunology basics, this course hosts a community hour to provide support to students in their pursuit of academia and STEM fields.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nDuring College Track\u2019s 25th anniversary, Jaela shared about her experience, most notably the impact her family and this program have had on her educational journey thus far in the \u201c<\/span>We\u2019re There for a Decade: The College Track Story.<\/b><\/a>\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nLooking ahead, Jaela is excited about unlocking this new community and the wealth of knowledge that will come with the experience from the HHMI Gilliam Fellowship. We\u2019re proud of Jaela, this incredible milestone, and our scholars who remind us that channeling our core values: passion, joy, excellence, authenticity, and commitment in pursuit of a life filled with opportunity, choice, purpose, and power is more than achievable.<\/span>","":null,"drop_cap":false,"helper_width":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_related_stories","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_related_stories":{"manually_curate":false,"posts":""}}]},"yoast_head":"\nJaela Caston, College Track Alumna selected as HHMI Gilliam Fellow - College Track<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/scholar-stories\/jaela-caston-college-track-alumna-selected-as-hhmi-gilliam-fellow\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jaela Caston, College Track Alumna selected as HHMI Gilliam Fellow - College Track\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our scholars constantly remind us of the immense value of College Track\u2019s work. 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