Beyond his passion for science, Omar Quintero-Carmona is known for giving every student a chance to be a scientist.

“He looks like me and talks like me,” said William Stith, a 2018 grad who has known “Dr. Q” since before his freshman year. “It made the sciences accessible. Seeing how he navigated the academic world and research — it made me want to do it myself.”

Quintero-Carmona recently earned the 2021 Prize for Excellence in Inclusivity from The American Society for Cell Biology. According to the society, the award recognizes “a scientist who has a strong track record in research or serves a critical role in fostering cell biology research and has demonstrated the importance of inclusion and diversity in science through mentoring, cultural change, outreach, or community service.”

Quintero-Carmona has taught at UR since 2012, and seeks to advance inclusivity both in and outside the classroom and lab. He recently won the 2021 A&S Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award.

“One of my aims is to provide opportunities for individual students that build from who they are in a way that aids their development in who they want to become,” Quintero-Carmona said, noting that inclusivity cannot fall on the shoulders of a few people.

“Inclusivity must be a community-wide, sustained, and concerted effort, and to be successful takes a genuine commitment from our institutions,” he said. “Institutions striving to be inclusive must invest resources and time into the development of every faculty and administrator’s expertise in inclusive practice at the same level they provide resources for becoming excellent teachers and expert scholars. These efforts will not be successful unless inclusivity becomes a core component of the culture.”

Since the beginning of his career, Quintero-Carmona has mentored more than 75 undergraduates, including offering research opportunities to undergraduates with no prior laboratory experience. These students have gone on to careers in medicine, healthcare, biotechnology, business, law, science policy, and education. 

“As mentors, our job is to make the most of the resources that we have to figure out what our mentee’s strengths are, where there is room for growth, and how to build an environment to encourage that growth,” Quintero-Carmona said. “That’s going to look different for each student, so it is on those in leadership positions to figure out what that looks like for each individual student and how to partner with the students to do good work together. That’s an approach that can be applied to all sorts of group environments.”

“My experience in Dr. Q’s lab was easily the most informative experience I’ve had in my life thus far,” said Elena Mecchi, who currently works in his lab. “His lab always felt very safe. He made us feel like we truly knew the material, and if we needed some extra help, he gave it with absolutely no judgement and an uncanny amount of patience.”

Quintero-Carmona strives to include every possible student in his lab, according to Stith and Mecchi. He seeks out grant funding that allows him to fund and hire student researchers, and does the work to make sure his students are from a myriad of backgrounds.

“He is a master educator, and working with him, that’s a privilege,” said Stith, who is currently navigating the world of research as a lab technician in Richmond.