The Hearst Foundations Support Postdocs at Gladstone

Thanks to a generous gift from the Hearst Foundations, Gladstone Institutes is now providing increased financial support to postdoctoral researchers to offset the high cost of living in the San Francisco Bay Area and ensure that the most talented scientists are able to remain in science.

An essential part of Gladstone's mission is to train and mentor the next generation of scientific leaders, including postdocs—early-career scientists who have completed their PhDs and are preparing to launch their scientific careers. Gladstone is home to approximately 130 postdocs, and in addition to performing much of the research in the labs, they contribute intellectually to Gladstone’s most important scientific work.

The gift provided by the Hearst Foundations has funded stipends to support housing costs and childcare for postdocs with children, and to offset increased financial needs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. By reducing the financial and logistical barriers at this pivotal point in these scientists’ careers, the Hearst Foundations have made a real impact on this vital population.

“The Hearst Foundations are proud to support Gladstone’s postdoctoral training program,” says Paul “Dino” Dinovitz, executive director of the Hearst Foundations. “Recruiting and retaining the best and brightest minds in science for Gladstone is a truly meaningful investment in our future.”

Carving a Bright Future for Promising Early-Career Scientists

“I was excited to come to Gladstone, because I knew it was a place doing cutting-edge science that would enable me to substantially advance my scientific career,” says Andrew Mendiola, PhD, who has been a postdoctoral scholar in Katerina Akassoglou’s lab since 2017. “I decided that being in an environment with the highest-level science, collaborating with like-minded individuals who are passionate for their research and for mentorship, would give me the best opportunity to make an impact in my research field.”

Mendiola, seen here mentoring intern Kissanet Frezghi, received a grant from the Hearst Foundations to help support the cost of childcare.

“You’d be hard pressed to find as good a place to do a postdoc than at Gladstone,” he says. “It’s really unique, in that everybody wants each other to thrive and succeed.”

The support he received from the Hearst Foundations makes a significant difference to an early-career scientist and new parent like Mendiola as he pursues his scientific dreams. “When I got the news about the Hearst Foundations grant, I was so excited to tell my wife we were going to have additional and much needed childcare resources,” he says.

“This generous investment from the Hearst Foundations will help us continue to develop and train the most promising minds in our field,” says Gladstone President Deepak Srivastava, MD. “We’re grateful for their support and applaud the foundation’s visionary commitment to the future of biomedical research.”