Meet OITE - Dr. Yolanda Mock Hawkins

Dr. Yolanda Mock Hawkins currently serves as the director of the NIH Academy which is a post-baccalaureate program which allows recent college graduates the opportunity to conduct biomedical research with world-renowned scientists as well as enhance their knowledge of health disparities. Prior to assuming this position Dr. Mock Hawkins led and coordinated scientific recruitment efforts at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) Intramural Research Program as the biomedical recruiter from 1999 – 2004. After receiving her undergraduate degree from Fisk University, Dr. Mock Hawkins went on to Texas Southern University, where she obtained an M.S. in Biology.  In 1994, she graduated with a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN.  Her thesis was on the “Identification and Characterization of Protein Kinase C (PKC) Isoforms in Normal and Keloid-Derived Fibroblasts.” Dr. Mock Hawkins conducted postdoctoral research at the NIA under the mentorship of Dr. George Roth between 1994 and 1998, in NIA’s Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology, in the Molecular Physiology and Genetics section.  Mock Hawkins served as a program analyst at NIA in the Office of the Director from 1998-1999.  She has reviewed grant applications for NSF and served on numerous NIH committees, as well taught at the collegiate level.  She is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.