“I have been in your shoes.” Erwin Cabrera ’10, biological sciences, often finds himself sharing these words during monthly meetings for Stony Brook University’s Simons STEM Scholars. Some of the bright-eyed students in front of him are the first in their family to attend college. Others may be nervous about upcoming exams or graduate school application deadlines. All are striving toward careers in STEM within the program’s supportive community—and these “family meetings” are one element of that support. 

As the program’s inaugural executive director, Cabrera isn’t just leading a replication of UMBC’s renowned Meyerhoff Scholars Program: He’s channeling the same cohort spirit, rigorous support, and unyielding belief in students’ potential that transformed him from a self-described “rough around the edges” undergrad into a champion for emerging scientists from all backgrounds. On October 29, Cabrera will receive a 2025 Outstanding Alumni Award from UMBC’s Alumni Association Board of Directors. 

Erwin Cabrera gets to know students “through and through” in order to support them better. (Photo by John Griffin/Stony Brook University)

Cabrera’s journey began in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Cabrera initially resisted considering UMBC, despite his older brother, Ramon Cabrera ’09, a Meyerhoff Scholar, already thriving there. At Meyerhoff selection weekend, two days of activities for students offered admission, he changed his mind. Amid UMBC’s nerdy reputation, Cabrera saw peers who looked like him, dreamed like him, and supported one another fiercely. “I could see myself there,” he says. 

Achievement grounded in love

Cabrera dove into research with Phyllis Robinson, professor of biological sciences. She “gave me a lot of grace” as he stumbled early on, Cabrera recalls, recognizing his potential before he had smoothed some of his edges. He balanced lab work with the UMBC’s Major Definition hip-hop dance team with mixed success—at his request, an advisor once showed up at rehearsal to remind him of study time. Later in his UMBC career, Cabrera, an M18 (the shorthand Meyerhoffs use to designate their cohort), served as a Meyerhoff Summer Bridge counselor and peer mentor for younger cohorts. “This is a lot of emotional labor, but super fun,” he remembers thinking of those roles, which would anticipate his career.

After UMBC, Cabrera earned a Ph.D. in neurobiology and neuroscience at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine, followed by a postdoc. Yet his heart was in administration. “I love science, but what I loved the most was teaching people in the lab and the impact it could have on folks’ lives,” he says. In 2019, he became director of the Research Aligned Mentorship (RAM) Program at Farmingdale State College, which is loosely inspired by Meyerhoff principles. It integrates research as an undergraduate retention tool, drawing economics and business students alongside STEM majors. 

In October 2022, Cabrera made his next big career move, becoming the first Meyerhoff alumnus to helm a full replication. A $2.5 million Simons Foundation grant to UMBC seeded the adaptation at Stony Brook, located on Long Island, and later Stony Brook received its own major grant from Simons to fully develop its program. Now in its third year, the program mirrors Meyerhoff’s core—cohort-based community, intensive mentoring, Summer Bridge, and research immersion—while adapting for the local context. 

Alongside Stony Brook University President Andrea Goldsmith (second from right), Erwin Cabrera (second from left) speaks with Simons STEM Scholars following a recent “family meeting” for the program, an important mechanism for building community among the scholars. (Photo by John Griffin/Stony Brook University)

“New York students are very different. They’re highly independent; some of them are regularly traveling three hours on the subway,” Cabrera notes. Early challenges included combating “hyper independence,” where some scholars struggled to trust that program leaders had their best interests at heart. His solution? “I just upped that love factor,” Cabrera says. He gets to know students “through and through,” offering tough love rooted in consent: “Do you need me to show up?” he asks, while also encouraging ownership. “This is yours at the end of the day,” he reminds students.

From UMBC to New York and beyond

At Stony Brook, Cabrera wears two hats: He’s a research professor in neurobiology and behavior, teaching honors courses and advising juniors through grad school applications. He also interfaces with program funders, manages the budget and staff, and more. Somehow he also travels to Kenya and Switzerland to support study abroad partnerships. 

“It’s all-encompassing,” he admits. Yet the success of the program keeps him going. Last summer, three Simons Scholars interned at Harvard and two at Stanford. “As a Meyerhoff from UMBC, I know the legacy of the program,” Cabrera says. “It’s my job to provide that vision here at Stony Brook, when this program did not exist three years ago. To see it coming to fruition is overwhelming in the best way possible.” 

“Everyone’s watching. It’s pressure because I’m the first,” Cabrera confesses. But amplifying UMBC’s ripple effect feels like a privilege. Since 1988, the Meyerhoff Scholars Program has supported over 1,800 undergraduates. Alumni have earned 488 Ph.D.s—including 80 M.D./Ph.D.s—making UMBC the nation’s top baccalaureate origin for African American M.D./Ph.D. recipients. Over 70 Meyerhoff alumni hold faculty posts at elite institutions like Harvard and Duke; more than 200 are in grad programs. Meyerhoff participants are 5.3 times more likely to pursue STEM Ph.D.s than students offered admission who decline.

Erwin Cabrera with the third cohort of Simons STEM Scholars during their Summer Bridge experience. (John Griffin/Stony Brook University)

This success has sparked over a dozen replications nationwide. HHMI’s 2013 – 2018 Meyerhoff Adaptation Project tailored the model for Penn State and UNC Chapel Hill. Howard University’s Karsh STEM Scholars and Stony Brook’s Simons initiative build on key elements like research engagement. International efforts at the University of Toronto Mississauga and University of the Philippines Los Baños adapt for local contexts, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative founded programs at UC Berkeley and UC San Diego. Collectively, these efforts have empowered thousands of students, turning UMBC’s vision into a movement. “I am guided by the quote, ‘To whom much is given, much is required,'” Cabrera says, highlighting his passion for his work.

Cabrera has kept in touch with Meyerhoff staff Keith Harmon and Mitsue Wiggs, who occasionally connect him with current UMBC students for mentoring, and remembers the influence of the late LaMont Toliver, an early director of the Meyerhoff program, fondly. He also stays connected through UMBC’s Filipino American Student Association and Alumni Advisory Board. 

In the midst of the demands of his role, Cabrera preaches and models balance. This fall, he vacationed in Japan with his spouse. “You need to see me take a break—we’re not robots,” he says, reminding his students not to obsess over performance. “You don’t have to be perfect; I want you to be a college student, and learn about who you are,” he tells them. In doing so, Cabrera serves his scholars as whole people—ensuring UMBC’s legacy of inclusive excellence endures, one resilient scholar at a time.