Mar Dissertation Year Fellowship
Giving in Action: Empowering the next generation of leaders
The Mar Dissertation Year Fellowship, established by the Mar Family, supports Nutritional Biology graduate students whose research advances the excellence of the UC Davis Department of Nutrition and strengthens graduate education. Awarded in recognition of outstanding academic achievement and promise of productive scholarship, the fellowship provides students with flexibility during their last year of their PhD studies, a critical stage of their doctoral training. Funds may support research expenses, travel, tuition and fees, or living expenses, giving recipients valuable time and resources to complete their research, thesis writing and prepare for the next stage of their careers.
Sarah Blecksmith
Graduate Group in Nutritional Biology | Mar Dissertation Year Fellowship Recipient
For Sarah, the Mar Dissertation Year Fellowship provided more than financial support; it gave her the time and resources to bring her doctoral research to completion and prepare for what comes next.
Sarah took a nontraditional path to nutrition research. After earning degrees in physics and French from Carnegie Mellon University, she worked in the energy sector and later studied computer science, eventually working with data from the Chandra X-ray Telescope. Her longstanding interest in nutrition eventually led her to the gut microbiome, fermented foods and, ultimately, graduate study at UC Davis.
Sarah's research examines how gut bacteria break down dietary fiber and whether differences in the microbiome's ability to process fiber may influence health. Her work has included an observational cohort study, laboratory fermentation experiments and a fiber intervention study in healthy adults.
The Mar Dissertation Year Fellowship helped Sarah complete this final stage of her PhD. The award supported her ability to present her research at the 2026 American Society for Nutrition conference and purchase a laptop for her upcoming postdoctoral research.
For Sarah, the fellowship also represents recognition of the path she took to get to this point.
“This fellowship feels like validation that my nontraditional path—through physics, computer science, and years of prerequisite courses, ultimately led somewhere worthwhile.”
This fall, Sarah will begin an ORISE postdoctoral fellowship with the USDA, where she will study dietary patterns and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption in children.
From completing her dissertation to presenting her research and preparing for her next position, the Mar Dissertation Year Fellowship helped Sarah turn years of graduate research into the foundation for her next chapter.
Emmanuel Gyimah
Graduate Group in Nutritional Biology | Mar Dissertation Year Fellowship Recipient
For Emmanuel, the Mar Dissertation Year Fellowship is providing something especially valuable during the final year of his PhD: protected time to focus on writing his dissertation and turn years of research into publications and future opportunities.
Born in London and raised in Accra, Ghana, Emmanuel earned a bachelor's degree in biology and French from Calvin College before completing a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and Biostatistics with Global Health at Washington University in St. Louis. His research experiences in Haiti and Ghana introduced him to maternal and child nutrition and sparked his goal of becoming an independent researcher.
At UC Davis, Emmanuel has studied how micronutrient interventions, including large-scale food fortification and maternal supplementation, affect population health. His research brings together epidemiology, dietary data and gut microbiome research to better understand how nutrition interventions can maximize benefits while minimizing potential risks.
He has also examined micronutrients in human milk, using data from international cohorts to better understand how maternal supplementation influences the nutritional adequacy of breast milk. Through additional fellowship support, he has investigated how climate change may affect children's diets and micronutrient status through food and water insecurity.
The Mar Dissertation Year Fellowship will allow Emmanuel to dedicate the coming year to writing and finalizing his dissertation and manuscripts without the competing demands of teaching. The fellowship will also give him flexibility to pursue additional training, conference presentations and professional development as he prepares for a career in nutrition research.
“Receiving the Mar Dissertation Year Fellowship affirms the importance of the research questions I have pursued throughout my doctoral training.”
Emmanuel's long-term goal is to lead research focused on maternal and child nutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa, connecting nutrition science with policy and programs that can improve health at scale.
Investing in Student Success
For doctoral students, the final year of graduate school is a critical period: years of research must be synthesized into dissertations, manuscripts and presentations while students prepare for their next professional chapter. Your support can give Nutritional Biology students the support and flexibility to focus on that work.