Three members of the CBS faculty community have been named Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives on Science (CAMPOS) scholars. The prestigious honor provides mentorship, support and community to new faculty members.

Felicity Muth, an assistant professor in the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, and Martine Therrien, an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and the Center for Neuroscience, and Antonio Serapio-Palacios, who will join the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics as an assistant professor in 2025, are among the six new CAMPOS scholars on campus. The scholars program is a continuation of the campus commitment to welcome diverse voices.

“Faculty members like these bring diverse perspectives and backgrounds that are vital to spur creativity and discovery,” Chancellor Gary S. May said at the induction ceremony Nov. 6 at the Manetti Shrem Museum. “Empowering diverse researchers and scholars is key to finding solutions to society’s greatest challenges and building a stronger, more equitable future.”

Luis Carvajal-Carmona, professor of biochemistry and molecular medicine and the associate vice chancellor for academic diversity, praised the new class of scholars and thanked the chancellor and provost for their support. 

“Our new cohort of CAMPOS scholars are stellar academics from diverse backgrounds who will enrich UC Davis,” he said. “We are lucky that these uniquely talented scholars chose UC Davis to pursue their academic careers, they will have a positive impact in our campus and surrounding communities. We are grateful to Chancellor May and Provost Croughan for their unwavering support for CAMPOS.”

Renetta Tull, vice chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, echoed a sense of gratitude for the collective work that made it possible to bring on new classes of scholars. “Partnership, collaboration, and shared vision are key to the success of the centers,” Tull said. “DEI is pleased to be part of the collective that includes the provost, Academic Affairs, and the deans to bring extraordinary scholars to UC Davis to be professors.”

Verónica Martínez-Cerdeño, interim faculty director of CAMPOS and a professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, praised the new cohort of scholars, and said CAMPOS provides both opportunities for career advancement and a way for the university to attract top-tier talent.

“The new scholars bring to UC Davis expertise in interdisciplinary fields that combine technology, science, and humanities,” she said. “The new class of CAMPOS scholars also reflect a movement toward more inclusive, diverse, and equitable hires to fill the ranks in academia.”

Successes earned through cooperation

UC Davis has been working together, and it shows: Earlier this year, the National Institutes of Health named the university to a list of just 10 institutions working to close gaps in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in biomedical and behavioral disciplines. The award, the NIH Institutional Excellence in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in Biomedical and Behavioral Research Prize, came with a $100,000 award.

It called out UC Davis’ “diversity ecosystem,” including CAMPOS, as well as the transformative changes in the School of Medicine’s admissions process, an implicit bias training program for faculty search committees — Strength Through Equity and Diversity, or STEAD — and the university’s initiative to become a Hispanic-Serving Institution, or HSI. 

That effort has also made major progress: This fall, UC Davis reached the enrollment threshold to gain eligibility to be designated as an HSI, making it eligible to be one of the nation’s few research-intensive universities to do so. The campus already secured the federal government’s status as a Minority Serving Institution in 2019 as an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution, or AANAPISI. Two designations position UC Davis to pursue a broader range of funding opportunities that will further support student success and strengthen academic programs. 

A long history of support

The changes haven’t happened overnight, and this year’s new faculty members bring the total number of CAMPOS scholars to 50. The 2024-25 class is also the 10th in the program’s history.

CAMPOS emerged out of UC Davis ADVANCE, a National Science Foundation-funded program aimed at increasing the participation of women in academic science and engineering careers. That NSF-backed program began in 2012, and the first class of CAMPOS scholars joined UC Davis in 2014.

Linda Bisson, faculty director for UC Davis ADVANCE and professor emeritus of viticulture and enology, said the university doesn’t pursue efforts like this to chase diversity statistics, which can be reached without making systemic changes. The real goal, Bisson said, is equality.

“We think of it as eliminating barriers to equality, not just having diversity,” she said. “If your goal is genuine equality … diversity is an outcome of that.”

UC Davis has pursued a broad diversity ecosystem because “different communities have different barriers for genuine equality,” she said.

The mission of CAMPOS continues as part of that ecosystem — while the five-year NSF grant for UC Davis ADVANCE has been exhausted, CAMPOS is now housed under the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. 

Tull said at the Nov. 6 event that DEI as a philosophy and goal ultimately helps everyone, including the institution.

“It's the foundation that allows all of us to work more effectively, support one another, and create a university that truly reflects the world that we are striving and continuing to strive to impact,” Tull told the crowd. “Together, we are building a UC Davis that is not only prepared for the future, but equipped to lead it, setting a standard of excellence that will inspire other institutions.”

Meet the newest scholars

The 2024-25 faculty CAMPOS scholars, all assistant professors, are:

• Vladimir Diaz-Ochoa, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine
• Antonio Serapio-Palacios, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, College of Biological Sciences (joining UC Davis in 2025)
• Rodolfo Urbano, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine
• Charles Wilkes II, School of Education
• Felicity Muth, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, College of Biological Sciences
• Martine Therrien, Molecular and Cellular Biology, College of Biological Sciences; Center for Neuroscience