Baylor Research Advocates for Student Scientists (BRASS) is a volunteer group dedicated to the success of students in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine.
Each year, BRASS selects four first-year graduate students to be BRASS Scholars. Through mentorship, advocacy and raising support for BRASS Scholars’ training and research, BRASS helps to lay the foundation for tomorrow’s lifesaving advances in medicine.
Become a BRASS member today
BRASS members “adopt” BRASS Scholars and support their professional growth by introducing them to their personal and professional networks and other leaders in the community.
BRASS members make philanthropic gifts and collaborate with the Office of Advancement and Alumni Affairs to obtain scholarship support, research funding and assistance with travel to important scientific conferences for BRASS Scholars.
BRASS members learn about the graduate school and BRASS Scholars’ research and share this information with the wider community.
BRASS members provide mentorship and support for research and training for BRASS Scholars, top student scientists in Baylor College of Medicine’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. The Graduate School is led by Dean Carolyn Smith, Ph.D., who holds the William R. Brinkley BRASS Chair.
Visit the Graduate School to learn more about its programs and what uniquely primes it to develop tomorrow’s leaders in biomedical science.
“Being a BRASS Scholar has given me a very supportive group of people in Houston who really care about what I am doing as a student researcher. It is great to be able to interact with leaders in the community and promote biomedical research. Since most of the people involved in BRASS are not scientists, it has pushed me to learn to communicate science to non-scientists, which is so important since most science is supported by public funds. BRASS has also provided funding for my research and for travel to conferences where I can meet with international collaborators and learn from those in my field.”
*deceased
*Annual memberships at these levels renew every year at the Tea & Toddies annual event.
Fair market value of each membership level is $250.
BRASS’s signature fundraising event, Tea & Toddies, introduces new BRASS members into the fold. At the event, members hear about BRASS Scholars’ research and raise a glass, or hot toddie, to honor special member contributions. All proceeds raised in this enjoyable evening soirée support BRASS’s mission of pursuing excellence in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
Each year, this event introduces four new BRASS Scholars to the BRASS community and celebrates the ongoing generosity of the David and Eula Wintermann Foundation to BRASS. At this fun and laid-back reception, members mingle with each other and begin to form a relationship with the new Scholars, who members will mentor, guide and support throughout their academic journeys.
BRASS’s annual holiday party is a time to celebrate the year of achievement about to conclude and all of the innovative research BRASS will support in the year ahead. This is an entertaining night that never fails to create special holiday memories for BRASS members, Scholars, friends and family.
When you become a BRASS member, you’ll help us recruit top students to Baylor by offering scholarships, research funding and a network of Houston community leaders who welcome these exemplary graduate students into their circle of family, cultural, civic and social activities.
