PhD student awarded NIH fellowship

Pursuing a PhD program can be tough when you have several responsibilities, including young children, paying the bills and you still need to work on your research.

Thankfully, for PhD student Autumn Ashley, relief came in the form of Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Institutes of Health National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Earlier this month, she learned she was awarded a two-year, $90,000 fellowship, which will help cover tuition, advanced research training outside of her regular coursework, and even a portion of childcare. 

Ashley shared how excited she was to learn about the award but also chuckled at the surmounting pressure as the reality set it in about the journey ahead.

“It’s an incredible opportunity for me to gain enhanced training and mentorship as I go through this phase of my program and work towards becoming an independent nurse scientist,” she said.

Ashley is the first Michigan State University College of Nursing student to receive this fellowship in over a decade. MSU Research Foundation Professor Jiying Ling is her mentor and advised her on her application for the fellowship, which is also referred to as a “F31.”  

Ashley’s research is focused on enhancing supportive care for patients and their caregivers. Specifically, Ashley will investigate family resilience as a mediator between unmet supportive care needs and quality of life in breast cancer patients and their caregivers. Ashley is hopeful that with this foundational research, a critical underlying mechanism will be identified and will help guide the development of future resilience-based interventions.

“I have witnessed several patients and families not only survive a cancer diagnosis, but also grow from their experience,” said Ashley, who has years of experience in oncology nursing. “ I hope to someday help more families find these same tools."

Published April 30, 2026.