Dr. Nicole Anderson appointed co-chair of early career investigator committee of Zebrafish Disease Models Society

Dr. Nicole Anderson, assistant professor of cell and molecular and member of the Cancer Center and Research Institute, has been appointed co-chair of the Early Career Investigator committee within the Zebrafish Disease Models Society.

Anderson, who has served in the role for the past year and a half, leads the ECI committee alongside co-chair Dr. Wade Sugden. The committee consists of 11 zebrafish researchers, including junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students. Together, they organize two annual webinars focused on career development and zebrafish research technologies. Their most recent webinar explored the use of single-cell technologies in zebrafish research. Additionally, the committee plans and hosts various events at the annual ZDMS meeting such as career development panels, mentoring sessions and scientific discussions tailored for early career investigators.

One of Anderson’s key initiatives has been launching a new mentoring program within ZDMS, which is designed to provide structured support for early-career researchers.

“The mentoring program is focused on a mentoring circle format, where two to three mentors are paired with two to four mentees based on career stage, goals, research interests and geographical location,” said Anderson. “We recruited over 40 mentors from both academia and industry and welcomed more than 70 mentees from around the world who use zebrafish as a model organism. The ECI mentoring program officially launched this February, and most of our groups have already had their first meeting.”

The initiative is expected to continue growing, with recruitment for the 2026 cohort beginning at the society’s annual meeting in October 2025. The program is open to all ZDMS members.

“Mentoring has been such an important part of my career trajectory, and it is something I am extremely passionate about,” Anderson said. “I am both a mentor and mentee in this program, and it has been incredible to experience it from both perspectives. The members of ZDMS are a great group of scientists who truly care about supporting the next generation, and it has been an honor to help facilitate this new program.”