Angela Wandinger-Ness

University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center | Albuquerque, NM | 2020

Angela Wandinger-Ness Portrait Photo

The Presidential Award is deeply meaningful for me because I consider mentoring trainees on a personal life path to scientific discovery among the most important and rewarding things I do as a scientist. It is humbling to be nominated by former trainees and colleagues, to hear the myriad success stories and commitments to mentorship—the collective ripple effect of paying it forward is most gratifying from a retrospective view.

The official biography below was current at the time of the award. Awardees may choose to provide their latest biographical information on their profile page.

Angela Wandinger-Ness is Professor of Pathology and the Victor and Ruby Hansen Surface Endowed Professor in Cancer Cell Biology and Clinical Translation at the University of New Mexico’s Comprehensive Cancer Center and Health Sciences Center. She's served in this role since 1998 and has spent the past 33 years mentoring students. Effective mentorship for Angela encompasses valuing differences, establishing partnerships with trust and reciprocity, uncovering strengths, supporting growth opportunities, and forging paths to achievement. For over 30 years, Angela has built STEM training programs for high school students through postdoctoral fellows that encourage diversity and rigorous professional development. Angela has personally mentored 74 students and fellows in her laboratory. Trainees hail from five continents and all four regions of the U.S. Trainees bring their diversity of abilities, culture, educational opportunity, gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic backgrounds to solve complex problems. Angela's mentees encompass over 370 students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty. Angela is an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow and Lifetime Mentor Awardee; her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, American Heart Association, National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, and private foundations. She currently serves as the Associate Director for Education, Training and Mentoring for the Comprehensive Cancer Center and leads two federally funded training programs that promote workforce diversification. Angela has a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles.