Full Circle: Rackham Alum Brings Next Generation of Researchers to U-M

For Rackham alum Aníbal Tornés Blanco, success means opening doors for those who follow. After earning his B.S. in integrative biology from the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras, Tornés Blanco became a National Institute of Health Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program scholar at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, where he developed a passion for protein biochemistry and prepared for applications to competitive Ph.D. programs. The experience led him to the U-M’s Department of Biological Chemistry, where he earned his Ph.D. in Professor Scott Pletcher’s laboratory. Throughout his Ph.D., Tornés Blanco also worked with the nonprofit Científico Latino, helping prospective STEM doctoral students prepare competitive applications. 

Now, as a University of Michigan Medical School Research Operations, Management, and Strategy postdoctoral fellow, Tornés Blanco supports the future of biomedical research at Michigan Medicine. Additionally, Tornés Blanco is participating in a series of U-M Collaborative Recruitment Events in Puerto Rico to support the next generation of scientists. 

Organized by the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at University of Michigan Medical School, representatives from five U-M graduate programs will connect with prospective student talent in Puerto Rico. Participating units include the Program in Biomedical Studies, the School of Kinesiology, the College of Pharmacy, the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and the School of Public Health. Tornés Blanco is a coordinator for the effort.

In advance of his recruitment trip to Puerto Rico, we caught up with this Rackham alum to learn more about his journey to Michigan and his advice to the next generation of graduate scholars.

Your upcoming trip to Puerto Rico brings your U-M journey full circle. How did attending a similar recruitment event shape your path, and what do you hope students take away from this event?

You don’t know what you don’t know, but it was exactly via a recruitment event like this one that I gained awareness and knew what I wanted in my professional future. I hope with this event that brilliant undergraduate students from Puerto Rico know that at Michigan there are opportunities and people waiting to meet them, and that they can continue making breakthroughs in research.

What do you wish more undergraduate students knew about the graduate school experience at U-M?

One of my favorite artists said, “To play in the big leagues, we have to play outside the island.” As I reflect on my graduate school experience, it definitely felt like the big leagues when leaving home, but the important part is that I found a tremendous community lifting each other to become a version I never imagined I could be. What I wish more undergraduates knew about the graduate school experience at U-M is that to be at the cutting edge of science requires surrounding yourself with leaders to organically become a leader yourself. So if you aspire to become a leader, this is the place to be.

What advice turned out to be really helpful to you when it came to making the transition to U-M? 

Find your community. Rackham was critical in this for me, as I started my graduate school experience during the peak of COVID-19. The Rackham Merit Fellowship connected me to individuals and topics that were important for me to stay engaged with both inside and outside the lab. The most incredible part about U-M is that there are interest groups for virtually everything you can think about, and if there is not, you can create it!

What advice do you have for applicants to a U-M summer program or graduate school? 

Remember your “why.” When applying to summer programs, don’t only think about your professional portfolio, but also think deeply as to “why” you are doing it and hoping to grow from it. Ultimately everything you learn and everyone you meet will impact your life, and as you prepare to apply to graduate school all those lessons will be formative in ways and connections you don’t anticipate.