EDUCATION: PhD in biophysics, University of Virginia

HOMETOWN: West Point, NY

WORK/RESEARCH: Stith manages two educational training grant programs. She selects external panel members to review grants, coordinates annual meetings for awardees, and visits educational sites to meet with people in the programs. One of these grant programs, called the Med into Grad Initiative, awards $2.5 million annually to support efforts at 13 institutions to teach PhD students about medical concepts and methodology. The other program, the Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study, has committed $410,000 each year for five years of independent funding for 10 graduate students.

RELEVANT SITE: www.hhmi.org/grants

GOAL: To continue to influence science training and education.

KEY MOMENT: While earning her PhD, Stith collaborated with a team of researchers from a variety of backgrounds. "I found that the interaction with the people and prioritizing the project were more compelling than the experimental details." This realization led her to accept a job at HHMI, where she ran a fellowship program for medical students who wanted to spend a year at a lab bench.

TOUGHEST CHALLENGE: Going against the advice of many colleagues, Stith decided that she didn't want to do a postdoctoral research project. "I had to stand strong about it and say, 'No, that's not what I want to do.'"

BIGGEST INSPIRATION: Stith's father, a professor of physics, pushed her to be an independent thinker. Because of him, she found the strength to leave laboratory research and do what she enjoyed.