Texas Social Work doctoral candidates Madison Haiman and Matthew “Jake” Samora have been awarded a University Continuing Fellowship for the 2025-2026 academic year. These highly competitive fellowships are awarded by The Graduate School at The University of Texas at Austin to doctoral students who demonstrate a well-defined program of research and an exceptional record of accomplishments.
University Fellowships include a 12-month stipend, health insurance assistance and tuition assistance that pays the cost of in-state tuition.
Each doctoral program is permitted to nominate two students for this award each year. This marks the sixth consecutive year that both students nominated by the Steve Hicks School of Social Work have been selected for the award.
“Madison and Jake conduct transformative research, and I can’t wait to see how they will change the world,” said Dr. Yessenia Castro, associate professor and associate dean for doctoral education at Texas Social Work. “This award is among the most competitive ones at The University of Texas at Austin, and we are especially proud that this is the sixth consecutive year that both students nominated by our school have been selected for it. It further emphasizes that our doctoral students are exceptional scientists-in-training, and I could not be prouder of them.”
Haiman’s current research is focused on perinatal substance use (substance use during pregnancy and the postpartum period) with an emphasis on prenatal substance use policy. She promotes reproductive and maternal health equity and addresses systemic barriers through qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches, community-based participatory research, implementation science, manuscript development and delivery, dissemination of research at national conferences, and advocacy efforts. She has conducted research focused on preconception and perinatal health as well as prenatal substance use policy.
“The Continuing Fellowship gives me the freedom to focus on important research to improve maternal health outcomes and experiences,” said Haiman. “I am honored and humbled to be a recipient of an award that prioritizes the impactful research of students and to have the opportunity to continue my studies on perinatal substance use through this award.”
Samora’s research interests involve the utilization of community-based participatory research methods and implementation science to better understand and improve health inequalities experienced by people who use drugs. As a researcher at the Addiction Research Institute, Samora’s interests draw heavily on his experience with TxCOPE (Texans Connecting Overdose Prevention Efforts), which is an innovative digital platform designed to improve data on overdose incidents experienced in Texas. In this work, he has developed strong competencies in qualitative methodology and implementation support, as well as a passion for providers and clients most heavily affected by the overdose crisis.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to be a recipient of this award,” said Samora. “Awards like this enable doctoral students to focus on complex work that addresses the broader needs of society and those of understudied, marginalized communities. I look forward to continuing to center drug use and intersecting factors in my research and serving communities through this scientific progress.”