CompBio Cafe

2023 was a historic year of growth for BWCB. Listen to our story as we journey through the year's major accomplishments and look ahead to what 2024 has in store.

Welcome to the #BlackInCompBio Podcast Series. The #BlackInCompBio series highlights Black computational biologists of all genders and professional stages and their stories. We use this platform to bridge the gap in representation and access to professional inspiration in the field.Javan Carter is a bioinformatic scientist at RTI, known for his expertise in phylogenomic analysis, programming languages, genomic ancestry, and genomic bioinformatic tools. With a diverse career trajectory, he has held positions as a head microbiologist at Sabra, a bioinformatic analyst at IQVIA, and served in academia as an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado Boulder and Wake Technical Community College. Driven by a passion for education, Dr. Carter is also a Researcher Academy Instructor at RTI, contributing to the All of Us database. Through his diverse experiences and expertise, Javan Carter has established himself as a highly-skilled bioinformatic scientist, making significant contributions to the field and advancing scientific research in thrombosis, opioid addiction, and Type 1 diabetes. The Black Women in Computational Biology Network is a global community of Black women scientists advancing biology through a computational lens. With over 200 members from 4 continents, we increase opportunities for collaboration, professional development, and science communication to change the face of integrative biosciences across the globe. The BlackInCompBio series highlights Black scientists from a variety of professional backgrounds and their stories.BWCB Website: https://www.blackwomencompbio.org/Produced by Melyssa Minto and Jenea Adams Hosted by Melyssa Minto and Jenea Adams Edited by Jenea AdamsMusic by LATASHA, YouTube Music Library

Welcome to the #BlackInCompBio Podcast Series.

Today we have Dr. Segun Fatumo, an associate professor of Genetic Epidemiology and Bioinformatics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the founder of the Nigerian Bioinformatics and Genomics Network. He has made some significant contributions to the field related to genetic risk scores and capacity building for Genomics research throughout Africa, and we are excited to hear about his career journey, research efforts, and outreach. Welcome, Dr. Fatumo!

Other News: You may recall that we’ve recently announced that we are a nonprofit organization. We are now an officially registered 501c3. This means we are a federally recognized tax-exempt organization and can uniquely expand programming and resources. This also means that any donations to BWCB are tax-deductible! We’ll share details soon about the best ways to make contributions, but for now, you can visit our verified PayPal charity page for one-time donations. We are incredibly grateful to those who have consistently donated to BWCB thus far. Do know that it has genuinely made a positive impact on our community. To this end, we are pleased to announce that The Black Women in Computational Biology Network has been selected as a 2023 Tech Equity Collective Impact Fund Recipient! Tech Equity Collective, an initiative started by Google, accelerates Black innovation and representation in tech by bringing together community and industry partners to create programs and experiences that lead to tangible progress of Black tech innovators. The TEC Impact Fund, with the support of @GoodieNation, provides financial funding to US Black-in-Tech organizations equipping aspiring Black professionals focused on core engineering and technical roles with the skills and tools to thrive in tech. We are proud Tech Equity Collective Advocates! We’re hosting a virtual community mixer on Saturday, June 10th at 12 pm US Eastern Time to celebrate this and many more accomplishments. We’ll also be sharing plans for our community stakeholders, hosting roundtables, and creating networking space for you to make new connections with members and other computational biologists. Registration is free, and you can find it at blackwomencompbio.org/events. Different upcoming ways to engage include our June podcast release, our open Journal Club on June 28th, and our long-awaited LIVE Black-In-CompBio seminar on July 26th. To stay current on these engagement opportunities, join as a member or supporter, and follow us on our social platforms.

Podcast team:

Melyssa Minto, Co-Host, Producer

Winfred Gatua, Co-Host

Jenea Adams, Co-Host, Producer, Editor

Important links:

• BWCB Website

• Register for our Community Mixer

• General BWCB links

• Donate to BWCB

Join today’s conversation with 3 of BWCB’s stellar African scientists: Winfred Gatua, MS(BWCB Regional Representative, Africa/Europe; Ph.D. Student at the University of Bristol, UK), Nadia Harerimana (Associate Computational Scientist, Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NYC) and Ruth Nanjala, MS (Africa-Oxford, Kennedy, and Clarendon Scholar and Ph.D. Student). We discuss the opportunities and challenges of studying computational biology abroad as an African scientist and share tips and tricks for navigating this pathway for those looking to leave Africa to develop skills in computational biology.

• Nadia Harerimana; US training resources for international students:

  • Microsoft Ph.D. Research Fellowship

  • HHMI Gilliam Fellowship

  • Fulbright Program

  • PD Soros Fellowship for New Americans

• Winfred Gatua; General resource for finding an international PhD

  • https://www.findaphd.com/

• Ruth Nanjala; UK training resources for international students

  • https://www.findamasters.com/

  • Clarendon Scholarship

  • Kennedy Trust Scholarship

  • Africa-Oxford Initiative

The Black Women in Computational Biology Network is a global community of Black women scientists advancing biology through a computational lens. With over 200 members from 4 continents, we increase opportunities for collaboration, professional development, and science communication to change the face of integrative biosciences across the globe. The BlackInCompBio series highlights Black scientists from a variety of professional backgrounds and their stories.

BWCB Website: https://www.blackwomencompbio.org/

Donate to BWCB: https://tinyurl.com/bwcb-donate

Hosts & Producers: Winfred Gatua and Jenea Adams

Music: Sunshower by LATASHA, YouTube Music Library

Listen with subtitles: https://youtu.be/uOugKW4yFdI

Dr. Evans' Bio

Chantell received a B.S. in Chemistry from Southern Illinois University and her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Her graduate thesis investigated Ca2+-regulated exocytosis using biochemistry and biophysics. She completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania where she used advanced microscopy and biochemical techniques to gain insight into the molecular mechanisms that regulate mitophagy in primary neurons. Chantell is an inaugural recipient of the Hanna Gray Fellowship from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

You can follow her on Twitter @channyskye and find her on LinkedIn as well as Chantell Evans, PhD.

Google Scholar I LinkedIn I Twitter

Learn more about Dr. Chantall Evans on her lab website https://www.evansresearchlab.com/.

If you’re interested in mitochondrial biology, neurodegenerative diseases, and quantitative imaging, the Evans labs is currently hiring postdocs!

Other Notes

This interview was hosted by Melyssa Minto and co-hosted by Jenea Adams on the Black Women in Computational Biology Network Executive Board.

The music is by Anno Domini Beats from the copyright-safe YouTube music library.

The Black Women in Computational Biology Network is a global community of Black women scientists advancing biology through a computational lens. With over 200 members from 4 continents, we increase opportunities for collaboration, professional development, and science communication to change the face of integrative biosciences across the globe. The BlackInCopBio series highlights Black scientists from a variety of professional backgrounds and their stories. Thank you for listening to this one!

BWCB Website: https://www.blackwomencompbio.org/

Donate to BWCB: https://tinyurl.com/bwcb-donate

Link to transcript