Ana Martinez-Donate Honored Nationally and Locally

Ana Martinez-Donate, PhD, is among the country's most promising young researchers, according to the White House.

An assistant professor of population health sciences, she received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the nation's highest honor for researchers early in their independent careers.

Martinez-Donate was among 20 winners nominated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and among 85 winners tapped by nine federal agencies as up-and-comers conducting innovative research and providing leadership in education and outreach.

President Barack Obama congratulated the group of award winners at a White House ceremony in December.

A member of the UW Carbone Cancer Center's cancer control research program, Martinez-Donate also was given the UW System Outstanding Women of Color in Education Award in December.

She studies the rate of HIV infection and factors that contribute to infection risk among Mexican migrants and immigrants.

"Previous research suggests that separation from family members, differences in social norms and other cultural factors like language may increase the risk of infection for this population," she says. "But the evidence is still limited, and that is what we are trying to study with my NIH grant."

Martinez-Donate hopes to expand her research, which typically involves fieldwork in the Mexican border cities where immigrants gather before entering the United States.