From where does it STEM?

In this episode, I chatted with Dr. Robert Fernandez, the Executive Director of Cientifico Latino, and a United States Obama Leaders for the Obama Foundation Leaders USA Program. He is a former PD Soros Fellow and a former undocumented immigrant who once had a dream of becoming a scientist. His dreams have become a reality, and he is now helping historically marginalized students access higher education in the sciences!

When Doris (formerly UNC PREP Postbac Scholar, Currently University of Michigan PhD student) was applying to graduate school, JP connected her with Dr. Christina Termini, the creator of the List of 100 Inspiring Hispanic/Latinx Scientists. In this conversation, we mentioned expanding that list, and thus the #LatinxAtlas was born!

Check out the original list of 100 Inspiring Hispanic/Latinx Scientists here, and check out the #LatinxAtlas, housed by the Fred Hutch Cancer Center here!

In this episode, I interviewed Dr. Lyric Jorgenson, the Associate Director of Science Policy and the Director of the Office of Science Policy at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Per the NIH Office of Science Policy website, she provides senior leadership in the development and oversight of cross-cutting biomedical research policies and programs considered to be of high-priority to NIH and the United States Government.

Prior to this role, she served in numerous roles across the agency, including Deputy Director of the Office of Science Policy, and has led the development of numerous high impact science and policy initiatives such as the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). Dr. Jorgenson also served as the Deputy Executive Director of the White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force in the Office of the Vice President in the Obama administration, where she directed and coordinated cancer-related activities across the Federal government and worked to leverage investments across sectors to dramatically accelerate progress in cancer prevention.

Lyric received a doctorate degree from the Graduate Program for Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities where she conducted research in neurodevelopment with a focus on learning and memory systems. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Denison University.

For more information on the work that the NIH Office of Science Policy does, check out their LinkedIn & Twitter/X accounts!

In this episode, I interviewed Dr. Yim Register (they/them). A recently minted DOCTOR. Per their website, they are an NSF GRFP Fellow and got their PhD from the University of Washington (UW) Information School. At UW, they studied the ways that AI algorithms can cause harm, and the best practices for identifying and remedying such algorithmic harms.

In this episode, I interviewed Dr. Beronda Montgomery, an amazing mentor, leader, and author of "Lessons from Plants". Per her website, she is a writer, researcher, and scholar who pursues a common theme of understanding how individuals perceive, respond to, and are impacted by the environments in which they exist. Her primary laboratory-based research is focused on the responses of photosynthetic organisms (i.e., plants and cyanobacteria) to external light cues. Additionally, she pursues this theme in the context of effective mentoring and leadership of individuals, and the role of innovative leaders in supporting success.

In this episode, I interviewed Dr. Neali Lucas. She has been at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for 14 years, where she is currently the Senior Science Advisor in the Office of the Commissioner, Office of the Chief Scientist. She was the first African-American scientist to graduate from her graduate program at the University of Michigan in 2007, and we had a rich discussion about equity and inclusion in STEM and the importance of hearing about how important these topics are from the top.

In this episode, guest co-host Rami Major and I interviewed Dr. Adriana Bankston. Per her website, she is an advocate for scientific research and innovation at the federal level. For close to a decade, Adriana has worked to nurture U.S. competitiveness in science and technology through a number of roles with universities, non-profits and scientific societies. Adriana works at the intersection of scientific research, higher education and STEM workforce development with a focus on science policy to advance our nation forward through evidence-based practices and empower the next generation to get involved.

As the incoming first-ever AAAS/ASGCT Congressional Policy Fellow, Adriana will contribute to our nation’s advancement in science and technology by providing high-quality, science-based, independent guidance to federal policy makers on Capitol Hill starting fall 2024.

In this episode, I interviewed Dr. Pallav Kosuri. Per Pallav's website, he studied physics in college at KTH in Stockholm, Sweden (where he's from). As a PhD student in the lab of Julio Fernandez at Columbia University, he studied the mechanics of protein folding and discovered that we can modulate this process to alter the elasticity of muscles. He then moved to Harvard University as a postdoc in the lab of Xiaowei Zhuang, where he used DNA to invent and build nanosensors that make it possible to see molecular movements. Since starting his lab at the Salk Institute in 2021, he has been excited about building a diverse and thriving research community, while training future leaders in biophysics. When he's not in the lab, you can find him rock climbing, skiing, or learning to surf.

Dr. Michael Summers is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and the Robert E. Meyerhoff Chair for Excellence in Research and Mentoring and Distinguished University Professor at UMBC. He is also an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Research in his laboratory is aimed at understanding how HIV-1 and other retroviruses assemble in infected cells and package their RNA genomes. He was an instrumental figure in the success of the amazing Meyerhoff Scholars Program!

In this episode, I interviewed Dr. Antentor Hinton Jr. Per his biosketch on his lab website, he is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics in the Vanderbilt School of Medicine Basic Sciences at Vanderbilt University and a member of the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center and the Ernest E. Just Early Career Investigator.

Dr. Hinton’s laboratory has a strong commitment to diversity. Dr. Hinton has published 8 STEM education papers and 32 diversity, equity, inclusion, mentoring, and career development commentaries. Dr. Hinton is currently a national leader on matters related to diversity, equity, inclusion and mentoring. Some of Dr Hinton’s publications include Cell, 2023 (First DEI cover article), Cell, 2022, Cell, 2020, EMBO, 2020 (a), EMBO 2020 (b) Nature Biotechnology, 2020, Trends in Cancer, 2021, Trends in Biochemical Sciences, 2021, Trends in Biochemical Sciences 2022, Cell Reports Medicine, 2021 (Shared 2nd Anniversary Cover), Cell Reports Medicine, 2022, Trends in Immunology 2022, Trends in Cell Biology 2022 (a), Trends in Cell Biology (b), Trends in Biochemical Sciences, 2022 (First DEI/career development cover article for a scientific journal), Trends in Plant Sciences, 2022 (Second DEI/Career development cover article for a scientific journal, Trends in Parasitology, 2022 (Third DEI/Career development cover article for a scientific journal), Trends in Chemistry, 2023 (Fourth DEI/Career Development cover article for a scientific journal) and Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, 2022 (First mentoring cover article for a scientific journal). These pieces are constructive and heavily use the literature to make recommended suggestions.