Graduate Scholars
The Buffett Early Childhood Institute offers fellowships for advanced doctoral students in the University of Nebraska System who conduct research concerning the development and education of young children, prenatal to 8 years old.
The program awards one-year fellowships worth up to $25,000 to a maximum of four NU doctoral students every year. The program seeks to support high-quality research from a variety of fields—including health, education, social work, music, art, psychology, the neurosciences, and others. Multidisciplinary research and new methodologies are encouraged.
Apply now for the 2026-27 Graduate Scholars program
Colman Freel
2025–26 Graduate Scholar
Colman Freel, of Durham, North Carolina, is a student in the Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. His project will investigate how the endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition contributes to cardiovascular risk in infants of diabetic mothers, and whether the lipid mediator maresin-1 can prevent these changes by stabilizing Wnt signaling and reducing TGFβ activity. His faculty mentors are Dr. Ann Anderson Berry and Paras Kumar Mishra. Torquati serves as the principal investigator of RESPECT Across Nebraska, a collaboration among multiple institutions and communities dedicated to strengthening the state’s early childhood workforce.
Rebekah Rapoza
2025–26 Graduate Scholar
Rebekah Rapoza, of Pepe’ekeo, Hawaii, is a student in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She is studying how exposure to adverse maternal stressors, such as low food security or an income below the federal poverty level, can negatively impact the course of pregnancy and have lifelong consequences on maternal and infant health. Her faculty mentor is Dr. Ann Anderson Berry. His project will investigate how the endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition contributes to cardiovascular risk in infants of diabetic mothers, and whether the lipid mediator maresin-1 can prevent these changes by stabilizing Wnt signaling and reducing TGFβ activity. His faculty mentors are Dr. Ann Anderson Berry and Paras Kumar Mishra. Torquati serves as the principal investigator of RESPECT Across Nebraska, a collaboration among multiple institutions and communities dedicated to strengthening the state’s early childhood workforce.
Ali Shull
2025-26 Graduate Scholar
Ali Shull, of Davey, Nebraska, is a student in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her project analyzes how exposure to parenting content on social media impacts parental stress, self-efficacy, and perceived parent-child relationship quality. Her faculty mentor is Carrie Clark.
Past Graduate Scholars
