Whitaker and Kunjapur named Gerard J. Mangone Young Scholars

From the tiniest microbes to the earliest years of human life, Aditya Kunjapur, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and Anamarie Whitaker, assistant professor of early care and education policy, are making an enormous impact - in their fields, and among their students - while studying the "small things."

Their outstanding research and promising careers are the reasons behind their recognition as the 2024 Gerard J. Mangone Young Scholars by the University of Delaware's Francis Alison Society. The award is named for a pioneering UD legal scholar in honor of his long career as a teacher, researcher and mentor.

From an early age, both scholars became intrigued with finding sustainable solutions to immediate issues. As assistant professors, they've accomplished those goals while also mentoring the next generation who share similar interests.

Mentorship is something that Kunjapur and Whitaker take seriously.

"Training the next generation of scholars is why I'm here," Whitaker said. "It's one of my favorite aspects of my position - I get to witness students go from being nervous about taking a stance to confidently communicating recommendations that are backed by research."

Anamarie Whitaker

Support others. Two simple words, yet an invaluable sentiment that Whitaker's parents instilled in her as a child. They didn't just speak it, they exemplified it, and the support Whitaker received from her parents encouraged her to lean into offering support to others, she said.

"Since college, I've been interested in supporting low-income families, specifically with policies that help reduce stress," Whitaker said. "I quickly recognized, as have many others, that this can be achieved by providing support to families and whole child development through high-quality early education from birth to age five."

Whitaker joined UD as an assistant professor in fall 2020, specializing in early care and education policy within the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences. Her research focuses on the different funding sources that childcare providers must navigate, which influences the type of care that children and families are eligible for, and the short- and long-term effectiveness of preschool.

"Expansion of preschool has historically been based on decades-old research that reveals long-term effectiveness well into adulthood of its participants," she said. "Modern-day research doesn't show the same pattern due to societal changes."

She recently collaborated with other scholars in reviewing such modern-day research. They published two papers that provide answers to critical questions, and also keeps the conversation alive, Whitaker said.

Whitaker said that she hopes to dive into the mechanisms of what makes an early care program effective and how its providers can best be supported - what policies and practices can be more streamlined so that providers are less inundated with complex systems, and are more engaged in facilitating high-quality education.

Whenever she does, the future is sure to be much more promising, because Whitaker's history proves that she affects early childcare education in significantly positive ways.

"Dr. Whitaker's research program centers on understanding whether, how, and why participation in early care and education interventions leads to long-term positive developmental outcomes for children from diverse backgrounds," said Jason Hustedt, department chair and professor in HDFS, who nominated Whitaker for the Mangone award. "She has a proven track record of receiving external funding for her research. In her career to date, she has led or co-led studies and projects totaling more than $6.2 million."

As part of her research at UD, Whitaker is actively involved in two studies: She is the primary investigator for a five-year study that focuses on the offerings and accessibility of high-quality care for children with special needs, and she's a researcher on a project that focuses on what influences early literacy achievement during early elementary school years.

Whitaker said that being named a Mangone Scholar is an honor that took her by surprise.

"I'm really honored to receive this award. There are many other deserving people, so I was shocked when former UD President Dennis Assanis called to congratulate me," she said. "It's an honor to be in this network of scholars, and to be at UD - where critical and groundbreaking research is happening."

Aditya Kunjapur

The potential of microbes intrigued Kunjapur as a graduate student. Quickly, he realized that microbe engineering is a pathway to create necessary products without the use of petroleum - a win for science and society.

Kunjapur grew up in Houston, Texas, the longstanding epicenter of the fossil fuel industry, but said that he did not enjoy biology courses until after graduating high school.

"Ironically, I became convinced that the life sciences would be important for making renewable chemicals, and I loved the idea of controlling biological processes," he said. "What began as a desire to create renewable fuels by engineering microbes, has grown into me designing cells to create and harness new-to-nature building blocks."

Originality of research is a key factor when being considered for the Mangone award. Millicent Sullivan, Alvin B. and Julie O. Stiles professor and chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, points out how Kunjapur is a pioneer in his field.

"Kunjapur has charted a highly original research program at the interface of synthetic biology and chemical biology," she said, "as he continues to seek to investigate how the biosynthesis of new-to-nature building blocks can help address grand challenges in human and planetary health."

As principal investigator in his lab, Kunjapur starts from scratch in creating cells. The Kunjapur Lab is a collaborative research environment for graduate and post-doctoral students, and an extension of UD's Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, the chemistry-biology interface program, the microbiology graduate program, and the Center for Plastics Innovation.

"In our lab, we are moving the needle regarding the kind of chemistry that microbes can use, especially as building blocks in proteins for sustainable chemistry and medicine," Kunjapur said. "Our students are finding creative ways of making microbes useful in different environments, such as human health and ecology."

Along with several of his students, Kunjapur published work from the lab with an attempt to show how the creation and use of new-to-nature building blocks can help address challenges in human and planetary health. "We're also still working on both of these directions in my lab with multiple projects based on the foundational work reported in the papers," he said.

On average, Kunjapur's graduate students conduct research in his lab for five to six years. He credits the lab's success to their creativity, hard work and dedication.

"The mission of the lab is to prepare them with skills that will propel them through the next phase of their life and career, and I can confidently say that we're doing that," Kunjapur said. "I like guiding young researchers so much that it's hard to see them leave."

Kunjapur, who is on sabbatical for the fall semester, is a visiting professor at Denmark Technical University. Along with his gratitude for being named a Mangone Scholar, he reflected on sharing international interests with the award's namesake.

"One of the really cool things about this award is Gerard J. Mangone's level of internationally-focused contributions," Kunjapur said. "I'm excited to spend the fall teaching in Denmark, but also networking with the international science community, because science is not confined to any one nation."

About Gerard J. Mangone

The Mangone Young Scholars Award is named in honor of the late Gerard J. Mangone, a pioneering international legal scholar who joined the UD faculty in 1972 and spent nearly the next 40 years teaching and advising scores of UD students. He also served numerous governmental and non-profit organizations, consulting for the White House, the State Department, the United Nations, Japan, the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was the first senior fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., and served as a visiting professor and lecturer around the world. Mangone's contributions were instrumental to the success of UD's marine policy program. He founded the Center for the Study of Marine Policy, the first research center at an American university to study the legal, political and economic issues facing the ocean and coast. The center was the forerunner of the Gerard J. Mangone Climate Change Science and Policy Hub. He received UD's highest faculty honor - the Francis Alison Award - in 1983 and was an active member of the Francis Alison Society until his death in July 2011.