Shakira M. Nelson, Ph.D., is a program director in the Division of Training and Workforce Development​. She co-directs the Postdoctoral Research Associate Training (PRAT) program and administers the Diversity Supplement Program and Re-entry supplement programs. She also manages grants in the Bridges to the Baccalaureate​, Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA), and Research on Interventions​ programs. ​Nelson also manages research grants in the area of inflammation and innate immunity in the Division of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry​.

Before joining NIGMS, Nelson was a senior scientific program administrator at the American Association for Cancer Research. She earned a B.S. in microbiology from Pennsylvania State University, an M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a Ph.D. in immunology and infectious diseases from Pennsylvania State University. Nelson conducted postdoctoral research as a cancer prevention fellow at the National Cancer Institute.

To contact Nelson, send email to shakira.nelson@nih.gov.

If you’re a reporter wishing to interview Nelson​, contact the NIGMS Communications and Public Liaison Branch.