UH Hilo biologists receive awards at National IDeA Symposium of Biomedical Research Excellence
Professor of Biology Li Tao receives Outstanding Mentorship and Teaching Award, and Assistant Professor of Biology Natalie Graham receives Scientific Merit Award.
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
Two members of the biology faculty at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo were recognized for their excellence in teaching and scholarly work at the 2026 National IDeA Symposium of Biomedical Research Excellence (NISBRE) held June 17 in North Bethesda, Maryland.
At the national symposium, Professor of Biology Li Tao received the Outstanding Mentorship and Teaching Award, and Assistant Professor of Biology Natalie Graham received the Scientific Merit Award. Their awards recognize teaching and research activities based at The Hawaiʻi IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (HI INBRE) program, a statewide federal project aimed at expanding the biomedical research capacity in Hawaiʻi.
- Learn more about the UH Hilo biology program.
Professor of Biology Li Tao: Outstanding Mentorship and Teaching Award
Professor Tao is a biochemist and a cell biologist with expertise in using a combination of in vitro biochemistry and in vivo cell biology to understand the regulation of cell division, thus providing insights into the fundamental mechanism to control the growth of cancer cells.
Tao received his doctor of philosophy in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of California at Davis, and his master of science in physiology from Nanjing University.
“I am deeply honored to receive the 2026 INBRE Outstanding Mentorship and Teaching Award,” he says. “This recognition reflects not only my efforts as an educator and mentor, but also the incredible achievements of the many students who have contributed to my research lab over the years.”
Tao says his goal since joining UH Hilo in 2014 has been to create a research environment where undergraduate students have meaningful opportunities to participate in biomedical research. “At a primarily undergraduate institution, I believe that research experience can be transformative, allowing students to develop scientific curiosity, confidence, critical thinking skills, and a clearer vision for their future careers.”
With continuous support from the Hawaiʻi INBRE program, Tao has established an active biomedical research lab at UH Hilo where he has mentored more than 100 undergraduate students, with approximately half coming from underrepresented backgrounds.
“Students in my lab are not simply trained in experimental techniques, they learn the complete process of scientific inquiry, including developing hypotheses, designing experiments, analyzing data, and communicating their findings,” he explains.
“My mentoring philosophy is based on creating a supportive research community. Students work closely with me through individual mentoring meetings and lab discussions, while experienced students help guide newer members through a peer-mentoring system. This approach allows students at different stages of training to learn from each other and develop leadership skills.”
“The success of my students is the most rewarding aspect of my work,” he adds. “Students from my lab have published in peer-reviewed journals, presented their research at regional and national conferences, received competitive awards, and continued their education in medical schools and PhD programs. Seeing students grow from beginners in the lab into independent scientists, physicians, and biomedical professionals has been the greatest motivation for my continued commitment to mentorship.”
Tao says his teaching philosophy is closely connected with his research. He has developed and taught biochemistry, biochemistry laboratory, cell biology, and cell biology laboratory courses at UH Hilo, integrating current research concepts and hands-on investigative experiences into the curriculum.
“Through research-based teaching, students learn that science is not only a collection of facts but a process of discovery, problem-solving, and innovation,” he says.
Tao cites the INBRE program as playing a transformative role in his career development. Beyond providing research funding, INBRE created opportunities to build laboratory capacity, train students, participate in scientific communities, and develop an independent research program. The preliminary data generated through INBRE support contributed to publications in journals such as Nature Communications, EMBO Journal, and Science Signaling, and ultimately supported his transition to independent National Institutes of Health funding through an NIH R16 (SuRE) award.
“I view this [mentoring and teaching] award as a recognition of a shared success among my students, UH Hilo, and the Hawaiʻi INBRE program,” says Tao. “My students are the reason I continue to invest in undergraduate research, and I hope that our lab can continue providing opportunities for the next generation of biomedical scientists from Hawaiʻi and beyond.”
Assistant Professor of Biology Natalie Graham: Scientific Merit Award
Assistant Professor Graham is a molecular ecologist with primary research in terrestrial arthropods found in the Hawaiian archipelago, which she studies to better understand what action should be taken to mitigate human impacts in the most vulnerable ecosystems. She does this through investigating how the structure of biological communities change over time, in particular, how anthropogenic changes are altering species interactions and potentially driving communities past ecological tipping points.
“I exploit the natural occurrence of age-structured terrains on the Hawaiian archipelago that represent communities in an assembly continuum at sites dating from 44 years to 5.5 million years in geological age,” says Graham about her work.
She received her master of science in biology from Sonoma State University, California, in 2014, and her doctor of philosophy in environmental science, policy, and management from University of California, Berkeley, in 2021. She arrived at UH Hilo in 2023, where she has founded the ʻElala Biodiversity Lab (ʻelala means insect in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, Hawaiian language). Graham also conducts research as an affiliate at Rausser College of Natural Resources, University of California, Berkeley.
Graham explains the importance of researching ecological and evolutionary dynamics to understand how biodiversity accumulates through time. “Interactions across space and time shape biodiversity, and while models have been developed to infer the dynamic processes shaping the evolution of communities, empirical data for understanding the interplay of ecology and evolution over long temporal scales are almost entirely lacking,” she says.
The Hawaiian archipelago provides an excellent backdrop for this research because each island is the result of the Pacific tectonic plate moving over a stationary “hot spot.” This means that each island began as a blank slate and represents a progressively longer amount of time that ecological and evolutionary processes have been able to shape present-day communities: younger islands tend to have communities with simpler networks and more generalized interactions (i.e., Hawaiʻi Island), while older islands have more established, complex, and specialized interactions (Kauaʻi).
Graham has been conducting research on island ecosystems and on the training of undergraduates in biomedicine with the Hawaiʻi IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (HI INBRE) program for the past three years as a junior investigator. “The research focus is the human, animal, and environmental health consequences of introduced arthropod pest species,” she says. “The methods include environmental DNA surveys for biosecurity and long-read sequencing for building genomic resources in Hawaiʻi.”
She’s also worked with a UH Hilo SEED Money Grant of intramural funding to investigate how arthropod and plant communities are shifting when the forest is hit with high rates of the pathogen that causes Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death, a fungal disease that has killed hundreds of thousands of mature ʻōhiʻa trees (Metrosideros polymorpha) throughout the Hawaiian Islands. ROD is caused by two invasive fungi, Ceratocystis huliohia and Ceratocystis lukuohia, and has the potential to irreversibly change some native Hawaiian ecosystems. She has used the SEED grant and her INBRE research data to apply for additional funds to continue to understand forest ecosystems in Hawaiʻi and how they are changing over time.
In 2024, Graham began work on building a DNA barcode reference library for arthropods of the Hawaiian Islands to generate DNA sequences for the major endemic insects and also the major pest species.
Assistant Professor Graham is unavailable this week for comment on her NISBRE award.
Story by Susan Enright, public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
