Dr. Marilyn Winkleby, SMYSP Faculty Advisor

“We are committed to ensuring that all students are given the opportunity to recognize their potential and succeed.”

Dr. Marilyn Winkleby, professor of medicine at Stanford University, admits she felt a little out of place on campus when she first arrived in 1987. She had grown up on a two-acre farm in Southern California, and had moved to Sacramento, California, by the time she was in high school.

“The affluence at Stanford was in striking contrast to my past and I sometimes felt alienated and far from my roots,” she says.

Winkleby had just completed her Ph.D. with honors at the University of California, Berkeley the year before, and she yearned for the energy and social activism that she had felt on that campus.

When two Stanford undergraduate students approached her with the idea of starting a program that would offer low-income and ethnic minority high school students academic enrichment, long-term mentoring, and information about health careers in the world-renowned health facilities available at Stanford, she jumped at the opportunity.

The Stanford Medical Youth Science Program was launched in 1987, and she has been a devoted leader ever since. Under her tutelage, the program has shepherded more than 400 students through the Summer Residential Program and 99% of them have been admitted to colleges and universities throughout the United States. In addition, Dr. Winkleby works tirelessly to find funding for the program and to expand the reach of SMYSP.

Dr. Winkleby began her academic career at California State University in Sacramento, California, where she received her undergraduate degree in Social Science. She earned her Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology from the same university, and went on to the University of California, Berkeley to get her Masters in Public Health in 1983 and her Ph.D. in Epidemiology in 1986.

Dr. Winkleby’s ongoing research at Stanford reflects her commitment to the health of medically underserved communities. She and her research group focus on cardiovascular disease epidemiology, community-based intervention research, social determinants of health, and the overall health of socioeconomically disadvantaged and ethnic minority populations.

She is dedicated to the promotion of diversity in the health professions. Through her work with SMYSP, she is also committed to helping train talented students become leaders to represent the increasing numbers of Americans who need advocates to address inequities in health and education.

“Our goal is to partner with families, schools, and communities to address the critical shortage of low-income students who enter the sciences and health professions. We have become a national model and we are excited that components of our program are being replicated nationally and internationally,” Dr. Winkleby says.