AGBT Announces 2025 Next Gen Leadership Award Recipients for the General Meeting
Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) proudly announces the recipients of the 2025 Next Gen Leadership Awards for the AGBT General Meeting. These prestigious awards recognize outstanding early-career scientists and graduate students…
MARCO ISLAND, Fla. (Feb. 26, 2025)
Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) proudly announces the recipients of the 2025 Next Gen Leadership Awards for the AGBT General Meeting. These prestigious awards recognize outstanding early-career scientists and graduate students who demonstrate exceptional promise in genomics and related fields.
The Next Gen Leadership Awards provide financial support for recipients to attend and present their research at the AGBT General Meeting, fostering professional development, networking, and collaboration among the brightest minds in the field.
The 2025 award recipients are
- Kimberley Billingsley, early independent researcher, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. — Presentation: Long-read sequencing of hundreds of diverse brains provides insight into the impact of structural variation on gene expression and methylation (Deferred to 2026)
- Adrian P. Gomez, graduate student, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu — Presentation: Identification of putatively causal DNA methylation markers in prostate tissue for prostate cancer risk: Comprehensive analyses using novel meQTL data as genetic instruments
- Rachel Johnston, early independent researcher, Zoo New England, Boston — Presentation: Health genomics in ex situ populations of gorillas and other mammals
- Rhina Kaur, medical student, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, D.C. — Presentation: Imprinting disorders and methylation dysregulation: The significance of methylation outliers
- Tennille Leak-Johnson, Ph.D., early independent researcher, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta — Presentation: Beyond risk: Genetic factors of type 2 diabetic nephropathy resilience in Black/African Americans
- Yunhe Liu, postdoctoral fellow, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston — Presentation: Conserved spatial subtypes and cellular neighborhoods of cancer-associated fibroblasts revealed by high-plex single-cell spatial multi-omics
- Jens Luebeck, early independent researcher, University of California San Diego, San Diego — Presentation: AmpliconSuite: Characterizing extrachromosomal DNA and other focal amplifications in the cancer genome
- Ethel Webi, graduate student, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya — Presentation: Transfection of the apicomplexan parasite Theileria parva sporozoites: Towards CRISPR/CAS gene editing for vaccine development
- Anna E. Yaschenko, graduate student, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C. — Presentation: Utilizing SynBio to decipher the effect of promoter architecture on gene expression
These awardees represent the next generation of genomics leaders, tackling pressing challenges across biomedical and agricultural sciences. Their innovative research spans synthetic biology, cancer omics, zoonomics, precision health, and more, reinforcing AGBT's mission to drive genomic discovery and technological advancement.
"We are thrilled to recognize these exceptional early-career researchers and graduate students. Their work is shaping the future of genomics, and we look forward to the valuable impact they will make in advancing the field and improving lives worldwide."
Len Pennacchio, AGBT board member and chair of the Education Committee, senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
The AGBT General Meeting is a premier global conference showcasing cutting-edge genomics research, technological innovation, and interdisciplinary collaboration. By supporting these emerging scientists, AGBT continues to cultivate a thriving and inclusive genomics ecosystem that accelerates discovery, drives innovation, and translates breakthrough research into real-world impact.
For more information about the Next Gen Leadership Awards and the AGBT General Meeting, visit www.agbt.org.
About AGBT
Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) meetings provide a forum for the global genomics community to engage in outstanding science, exchange ideas, and advance the field of genomics and its applications across diverse disciplines.