Margarita L Dubocovich

University at Buffalo | Buffalo, NY | 2023

Margarita L Dubocovich Portrait Photo

Receiving the Presidential Award is an incredible honor and affirmation of my passion for mentoring the next generation of STEM scientists. I know firsthand the power of mentoring that shaped my own journey from humble beginnings to a successful scientific career. This award is a tribute to my own mentors and the dedication and success of the many mentees I have advised and guided on my own research team, in the institutional programs I developed, and in professional societies.

Laura Ulrich Portrait Photo

Receiving the Presidential Award is an incredible honor and affirmation of my passion for mentoring the next generation of STEM scientists. I know firsthand the power of mentoring that shaped my own journey from humble beginnings to a successful scientific career. This award is a tribute to my own mentors and the dedication and success of the many mentees I have advised and guided on my own research team, in the institutional programs I developed, and in professional societies.

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.

Margarita L. Dubocovich is a State University of New York Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology at the University at Buffalo (UB) Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. She is director of two National Institutes of Health-funded training programs to increase diversity among bioscience graduate students and junior faculty. She served as Inaugural Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion from 2012 to 2022. A faculty mentor for 42 years, first at Northwestern University (NU) and now at UB, she has advised in research over 160 bioscience trainees from high school to faculty. She is a leader in professional societies that promote mentoring and diversity. At both NU and UB, Margarita developed comprehensive institutional mentoring programs, including the Institute for Strategic Enhancement of Educational Diversity and the award-winning Collaborative Learning and Integrated Mentoring in the Bioscience (CLIMB) Program. CLIMB provides mentoring, professional development, and funding for undergraduate and graduate students and junior faculty. Of the 680 CLIMB scholars to date, 65% are women and 47% are underrepresented in STEM. Margarita has a B.S. in biological chemistry and a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the School of Exact and Natural Sciences at Buenos Aires University. Her honors include the UB President's Medal, UB Graduate Student and UB Postdoctoral Mentoring Awards, 2017 Inaugural Delores Shockey Excellence in Minority Mentoring Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2022 Julius Axelrod Award from the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and 2024 Award for Contributing to the Diversity and Inclusiveness of the Translational Workforce from the Association for Clinical and Translational Science.