Maria CARRANZA

Biography

Dr. Maria Carranza manages NIA’s fellowship and research career development programs in the NIA Office of Strategic Extramural Programs. She serves as the primary point of contact for policies, goals, and processes related to each training and career development funding opportunity. Dr. Carranza serves as NIA's representative to the NIH Training Advisory Committee and works with NIA divisions to develop, manage, and optimize NIA's fellowship and research career development programs.

She received her Ph.D. in chemistry from Baylor University and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute. Her research focused on drug discovery for central nervous system disorders and cancer. After 12 years as a university professor, she joined the National Science Foundation NSF INCLUDES initiative as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellow, where she co-led the development of the NSF INCLUDES Special Report to the Nation II and was a contributor to the Interagency Working Group for Inclusion in STEM.