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Meet the 2026-2027 Postdoc Pathways Cohort

Oct. 1, 2026

We are excited to introduce you to the 2026-2027 CIRTL Postdoc Pathways cohort. This group of amazing postdoctoral scholars will be training in teaching methods this fall and co-teaching with faculty mentors in spring within a supportive community.

The CIRTL Postdoc Pathways program is a "just-in-time, just-enough" teaching preparation program for full-time research postdocs at the University of Arizona who are interested in teaching as part of their career. In the four years since the program's development, nearly 100 postdocs have completed the program and co-taught courses from first-year to graduate-level courses with more than 80 teaching mentors. The program is supported by UCATT and the U of A’s membership in the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL), an international professional development network.

This year, we have selected 21 fellows from 16 STEM departments who represent a diversity of teaching experiences, interests, disciplinary, and educational backgrounds. During the fall, they will train in evidence-based teaching methods, participate in a cohort-based learning community, and plan a short-term, intensive co-teaching project with a faculty mentor for the following semester. In Spring, they will complete their co-teaching project, participate in another learning community, and create a teaching portfolio.

2026-2027 CIRTL Postdoc Pathways cohort

Meet the 2026-2027 cohort (in order of appearance):

  • Raphael Adegbola, Plant Sciences
  • Abhisek Bhattarai, Radiology and Imaging Sciences
  • Tyler Blechschmid, Physiology
  • Janina Carrera, Neurosurgery 
  • Viktor Dubrovin, Optical Sciences
  • Aniket Gupta, Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences
  • Fabian Hervas-Peters, Steward Observatory
  • Eka Oktavia Kurniati, Civil and Architectural Engineering
  • Alexandra Le Contellec, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
  • Leonardo Lima, Environmental Science
  • Abhilasha Mishra, Pediatrics
  • Timothy Ojodare, College of Veterinary Medicine
  • Joon Park, Anesthesiology
  • Amir Raza, Plant Sciences
  • Damilare Rotimi, Pediatrics
  • Shima Sadri, Physiology
  • Hava Schwartz, Physics
  • Sabina Srokova, Psychology
  • Heshani De Silva Weligodage, Plant Sciences
  • Divya Yadav, Pharmacology and Toxicology
  • Lirong Yin, Hydrology and Atmospheric Science

A warm welcome and best of luck to this year's participants!

If you're interested in learning more about the program, please contact CIRTL Co-Institutional Leads, Dr. Lisa Elfring or Dr. Kristin Winet.