Courtesy of Shirin Bahmanyar

Two Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology junior faculty members were among the four recipients of the 2022–23 Poorvu Family Fund for Academic Innovation award in January. 

The Poorvu Family Fund for Academic Innovation award is given each year to outstanding junior faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in teaching in undergraduate programs. The award allows faculty to dedicate the summer to research integral to their development as scholars and teachers. This year’s winners were Shirin Bahmanyar, Anastasia Eccles, Amaleah Hartman GRD ’19 and Jim Wood — Bahmanyar and Hartman are both professors in the molecular, cellular and developmental biology department. 

“I can’t think of a better way to be recognized for all the work I put forth,” Hartman told the News. So, thank you to those that nominated me — you made me shed a few tears of happiness in my office.”

Hartman previously facilitated and taught the foundational BIOL 101-104 series of biology courses for Yale undergraduate students. She said the news about the award came as a complete surprise in an email from Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis.

As the lecturer and course coordinator of the introductory biology sequence, Hartman was responsible for organizing the logistics, overseeing the teaching team, addressing student concerns and providing academic advice. She also added science journal clubs and enrichment sessions to encourage active learning. 

Currently, Hartman serves as the lead instructor for Cell Biology and Genetics and Development in the summer, as well as Genetics Lab and Microbiology Lab for upper-level Biology majors.

“While I admittedly miss closely interacting with students in the way the Course Coordinator position afforded […] I have thoroughly enjoyed being the lead instructor and developing course materials for Cell Biology, and it has been an absolute blast to be back at the bench teaching undergraduates how to design experiments and perform many of the techniques we discuss in the biology sequence,” Hartman told the News. 

Shirin Bahmanyar, the second awardee from the department, is an associate professor of MCDB. She teaches two undergraduate courses: one is a core course for the MCDB major, Cell Biology, and the other is a science distributional requirement for non-STEM majors, Biology the World and Us. 

Since the two courses are quite different from each other, Bahmanyar said she “makes a concerted effort to present the material in an accessible manner that is relatable and inclusive” for students in both courses, through methods such as “using props, presenting graphics on the slides and making [herself] accessible to students.”

According to Bahmanyar, the main research interest of the Bahmanyar Lab is to “[understand] how cells are compartmentalized by internal membranes,” with a particular focus on the endoplasmic reticulum, the largest internal membrane system in animal cells.

One of the most significant findings from her lab is that the ER not only serves as a membrane barrier, but also protects the human genome with its unique chemical composition. Bahmanyar received the 2022 Women in Cell Biology Junior Award in Research Excellence for her contributions to cell biology. 

The Poorvu Family Fund for Academic Innovation is administered by the Yale College Dean’s Office. Later this semester, the award recipients will be invited to a celebratory dinner hosted by Dean Lewis. In an email to the News, Lewis emphasized the importance of innovation and teaching.

 “We need to find the best ways to educate students in all fields, and in particular with advances in research, technological changes in how we deliver courses and the recent pandemic, it is clear that we need to be constantly renewing our teaching approaches,” Lewis said.

The Poorvu Family Fund for Academic Innovation was established in 1991.