Guggenheim Fellowship
What this fellowship means for my writing goals in the coming year.
Hello dear readers,
I’m thrilled to share that I’ve been selected as a 2024 Guggenheim Fellow in the category of Medicine and Health. This is a tremendous honor and provides an incredible opportunity for me to dedicate more of my time in the upcoming year to writing my next book! Huge thanks to the scholars who wrote letters of support to accompany my application. I am incredibly grateful to the review committee and to the Eleanor Schwartz Charitable Foundation for underwriting my fellowship.
Details from the Press Release
About the Guggenheim Foundation
Created and initially funded in 1925, by US Senator Simon and Olga Guggenheim in memory of their son John Simon, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has sought to “further the development of scholars and artists by assisting them to engage in research in any field of knowledge and creation in any of the arts, under the freest possible conditions.” Since its establishment, the Foundation has granted over $400 million in Fellowships to more than 19,000 individuals, among whom are more than 125 Nobel laureates, members of all the national academies, winners of the Pulitzer Prize, Fields Medal, Turing Award, Bancroft Prize, National Book Award, and other internationally recognized honors. The broad range of fields of study is a unique characteristic of the Fellowship program.
About the 2024 Fellows
The Board of Trustees of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announced the appointment of 188 Guggenheim Fellowships to a distinguished and diverse group of culture-creators working across 52 disciplines. Chosen through a rigorous application and peer review process from a pool of almost 3,000 applicants, the Class of 2024 Guggenheim Fellows was tapped on the basis of prior career achievement and exceptional promise. As established in 1925 by founder Senator Simon Guggenheim, each fellow receives a monetary stipend to pursue independent work at the highest level under “the freest possible conditions.”
“Humanity faces some profound existential challenges,” said Edward Hirsch, award-winning poet and president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. “The Guggenheim Fellowship is a life-changing recognition. It’s a celebrated investment into the lives and careers of distinguished artists, scholars, scientists, writers and other cultural visionaries who are meeting these challenges head-on and generating new possibilities and pathways across the broader culture as they do so.”
In all, 52 scholarly disciplines and artistic fields, 84 academic institutions, 38 US states and the District of Columbia, and four Canadian provinces are represented in the 2024 class, who range in age from 28 to 89. More than 40 Fellows (roughly 1 out of 4) do not hold a full-time affiliation with a college or university. Many Fellows’ projects directly respond to timely issues such as democracy and politics, identity, disability activism, machine learning, incarceration, climate change and community. Since its founding in 1925, the Foundation has awarded over $400 million in fellowships to more than 19,000 fellows.
What This Means for Me
This fellowship offers me one of a scholar’s most important assets: the gift of time. Over the next year, I will be stepping back from much of my public speaking and service loads in the scientific community to focus more on my writing. While I will still hold to my work obligations in running my lab and serving the university as an assistant dean of research cores, I will have some time away from teaching to put all of my creative energies into my writing. This next book will combine all of my passions for traditional medicine and exploring the intricate ways that planetary and human health are interconnected. I’m so excited about these next steps and can’t wait to share my journey with you!
Yours in health, Dr. Quave
Cassandra L. Quave, Ph.D. is a scientist, author, speaker, podcast host, wife, mother, explorer, and professor at Emory University School of Medicine. She teaches college courses and leads a group of research scientists studying medicinal plants to find new life-saving drugs from nature. She hosts the Foodie Pharmacology podcast and writes the Nature’s Pharmacy newsletter to share the science behind natural medicines. To support her effort, consider a paid or founding subscription, with founding members receiving an autographed 1st edition hardcover copy of her book, The Plant Hunter.
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Have you read The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger? . Just finished it and thought of you and all the work you are and continue to do.
Congratulations! So very excited first you and so very well deserved. Can’t wait to read your next book.