2025 Board Elections Results Announced

October 27, 2025

The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) has elected four individuals to the Board of Directors for the three-year term of service beginning on January 1, 2026: Amber Ismael, Ph.D., Karena Nguyen, Ph.D., Wesley D. Marner II, Ph.D., and Vipul Sharma, Ph.D.

The directors were elected from a field of ten candidates during the 2025 election, which ran from September 10 through September 24. The newly elected directors will join the following members of the Board: Matthew Aguirre, Ph.D., Lindsey Fernandez, Ph.D., Erin Heckler, Ph.D., Madhumita Joshi, Ph.D., Sudha Krishnamurthy, B.D.S, Ph.D., Andrea Pereyra, M.D., Ph.D., and Robin Sugiura, M.A.

S. Anand Narayanan, Ph.D., Caleb McKinney, Ph.D., M.P.S., William Mahoney, Jr., Ph.D., and Christopher Smith, Ph.D., will complete their terms at the end of this year. We thank them for their service.

Ismael (she/they) is dedicated to supporting the career and professional development of graduate students and postdocs, helping them achieve their goals. As a senior program manager in the Office of Scientific Career Development at Fred Hutch, she designs and delivers a wide range of programming emphasizing interactive, experiential, and peer learning, creating a more personalized and fulfilling experience. She also offers career coaching to provide individualized support that addresses the unique needs of each person. By working closely with graduate students and postdocs, she ensures that programming evolves in alignment with their changing needs.

Ismael earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of California, Irvine, a doctorate in biology from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Colorado Anschutz. During her postdoc, she became actively involved with the postdoctoral association (PDA), sparking a deep interest in supporting and advocating for postdocs, a passion that has guided her work ever since. She continues to pursue opportunities to support postdocs at institutional, community, and national levels.

Out in the wild, she explores the Pacific Northwest with her family, cycling, trail running, cross- country skiing, or experimenting in the kitchen to perfect the art of pizza-making.

Nguyen is the assistant director of postdoctoral services at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In her role, Nguyen builds community through social and academic events and develops career and professional development programming for postdocs. A core motivation of her work is finding ways to create, support, and sustain equitable and inclusive spaces. To this end, Nguyen has volunteered with and led committees through organizations such as the NPA, the Graduate Career Consortium, and the POD Network.

Previously, Nguyen was a disease ecologist and environmental microbiologist with experience conducting lab and field-based research domestically and internationally. She earned a doctorate in integrative biology from the University of South Florida and a Bachelor of Science in ecology and evolution from Saint Louis University. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the Fellowships in Research and Science Teaching (FIRST) program at Emory University.

Marner is the director of engagement, education, and equity at the Morgridge Institute for Research, a private biomedical research institution affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In this role, he focuses on the holistic development of early-career scientists, particularly postdoctoral scholars, and the expansion of access to STEM opportunities. Marner leads a team that designs and implements comprehensive training in science communication, leadership, and public engagement. His mission is rooted in mentorship and equity in science, a focus he adopted after consciously transitioning his career. Previously, Marner directed the Experimental Fermentation lab at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, where he specialized in microbial metabolic engineering and synthetic biology for biofuel synthesis. He holds a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Virginia Tech. Marner is passionate about using institutional resources to break down systemic barriers in STEM, ensuring that all scientists gain the confidence, self-understanding, and professional skills necessary for fulfilling and diverse careers.

Sharma is the director of postdoctoral affairs at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago. Prior to this role, he was the assistant director for postdoctoral affairs in Biological Sciences Division, University of Chicago, and co-chair of Diversity Task Force of the NPA. He got his doctorate in cardiovascular developmental genetics from the Newcastle University, UK and did his postdoctoral research in understanding heart development and congenital heart defects at Washington University in St. Louis. During his postdoctoral training, he was an active member of WashU postdoc association and served as outreach director. He is passionate about graduate and postdoctoral affairs like program development, mentorship, advocacy, policy making, and increasing representation in higher education and leadership roles. He has also written op-eds for Inside Higher Ed, Times Higher Education, and the NPA's POSTDOCket on these themes. In my free time he produces his podcast, WokeTales, and enjoys spending time with his cats.