Evan Brooks

Graduate Student of the Year

Evan Brooks is a PhD candidate in Molecular and Developmental Biology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. A North Carolina native, Evan earned his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from North Carolina State University. His PhD research focuses on understanding how the development of the lower jaw skeleton is disrupted in a rare disease called Oral-facial-digital syndrome. His research has been funded by several competitive fellowships, including a predoctoral fellowship from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and the Albert C. Yates and Albert J. Ryan fellowships from the University of Cincinnati. Evan’s research has also been featured in two premier journals in the developmental biology field. 

While in graduate school, Evan has been heavily involved with diversity initiatives at UC. He served as president of the UC SACNAS chapter, which provides minority graduate and undergraduate students in STEM with peer mentoring and career development opportunities. He also helped establish the Black Biomedical Graduate Student group which provides Black graduate students in UC College of Medicine with opportunities to network and build community with each other. He has also been a volunteer with the UC McNair Scholars program for sessions focused on graduate school interview and application preparation.

After finishing his PhD, Evan intends to pursue postdoctoral research focused on the molecular mechanisms of facial development while gaining teaching experience. He hopes to be a professor at an HBCU or a small liberal arts college.