A postdoctoral fellow at the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) is the first researcher at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa to earn the K99/R00 award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Andrew Kekūpaʻa Knutson has received the Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity—a special group of NIH Pathways to Independence (K99/R00) awards.
The MOSAIC scholar cohort assembles young, underrepresented investigators from across the country who share a commitment to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion. Knutson, born and raised in Honolulu, had applied for the program hoping to proudly represent his community as a Native Hawaiian. He is “Grateful, honored and humbled to be a part of this amazing program, amongst these amazing scientists!”
The K99/R00 award will provide Knutson with up to five years of support to help him transition from the postdoctoral stage to the faculty stage of his career.
“At the end of the day, I want to do cool, exciting and robust research,” said Knutson. “I would also like to see more people from underrepresented groups involved in science in Hawaiʻi. I, personally, have been extremely lucky to get this far and credit my mentors and support from my family.”
Up and coming scholar
Faculty who earn NIH K-level funding are among the most up and coming faculty nationwide in their disciplines, with the K99 being the most prestigious award. This MOSAIC K99/R00 mechanism is unique in that its scholars are placed into training programs led by scientific societies. In Knutson’s case, that is the American Society for Cell Biology, where he will connect with external mentors who will advise him as he transitions to independence, as well as provide him with career development activities and training.
His award-winning proposal, “Epigenetic Regulation of the Hypoxic Response in the Mouse Heart,” investigates how the beating cells of the heart respond to low oxygen. In the future, he hopes to focus on understanding how genomes are interpreted to give rise to the diverse cell types that make up a multicellular organism and how those different cell types respond to stress.
Knutson is primarily mentored under Ralph Shohet in JABSOM’s Center for Cardiovascular Research. Knutson said that Shohet, along with his postdoc advisory committee, Michelle Tallquist and Ben Fogelgren, have been instrumental in helping him advance his science and training.
“I believe the training grants awarded to JABSOM over the past few years have demonstrated that we have been improving the pipeline of early career training grants supporting individuals from underrepresented backgrounds in the sciences, but this particular award is quite an impressive accomplishment,” said JABSOM Associate Director for Research Rachel Boulay.
Read more on the JABSOM website.
This recognition is an example of UH Mānoa’s goals of Excellence in Research: Advancing the Research and Creative Work Enterprise (PDF) and Enhancing Student Success (PDF), two of four goals identified in the 2015–25 Strategic Plan (PDF), updated in December 2020.
