Diversity in Science
Now more than ever it is important that we continue to advocate for diversity in science. As a Puerto Rican biophysicist, I have experienced some of the difficulties under represented scientists face as they go through their training, and have listened to difficulties numerous of colleagues experienced. My own experiences have been anywhere from being the only URM in the room, to statements from friends and colleagues saying things along the lines of "Well you only got that grant because you are Puerto Rican," or "Congratulations on LSRF, glad you can still get grants that are not diversity based". I am thick skinned and consider myself fortunate that my experiences were never worse. However many of my friends and colleagues have experienced MUCH worse. They have been told maybe they should consider leaving with a masters, they have been victims of constant microaggresions, etc... Thankfully, these people have persisted in science, and their perseverance continues to inspire more URMs to pursue degrees in STEM.
So what am I doing to to continue to promote diversity in STEM?
1.) I will continue to LOUDLY advocate for diversity in STEM.
2.) I will continue to promote programs, pathways, and fellowships that support diversity in STEM.
3.) I will continue to be the a loud and proud cheerleader for my URM colleagues.
4.) I will continue to listen to my friends, community, and anyone who needs to share their concerns.
5.) I will continue to persist as a Puerto Rican biophysicist and advocate for students to have mentors that look like themselves.
So what am I doing to to continue to promote diversity in STEM?
1.) I will continue to LOUDLY advocate for diversity in STEM.
2.) I will continue to promote programs, pathways, and fellowships that support diversity in STEM.
3.) I will continue to be the a loud and proud cheerleader for my URM colleagues.
4.) I will continue to listen to my friends, community, and anyone who needs to share their concerns.
5.) I will continue to persist as a Puerto Rican biophysicist and advocate for students to have mentors that look like themselves.
I have always kept a list of people who have impacted my career in ways that are/ were significant to me. Recently, I realized that many people on that list are themselves scientists from under represented backgrounds and I want to share how they helped me. Many of these people do not realize my respect and admiration for what they do, and some may not even remember me!! This list is incomplete and I will try to continually update it.
Dr. Carlos Castañeda: Carlos was postdoc when I was an undergrad in the Fushman lab at UMD. He trained me in the lab, taught me numerous lessons, and helped me develop skills I still use this very day. He is currently a faculty member at Syracuse, and continues to be a friend, mentor, and inspiration to me. If you are a graduate student looking for a postdoc and see he has an open position, pursue it, you will get world class training.
Dr. Don Brunson: I have not been in contact with Don for many years, but Don invited me attend the Vanderbilt PreVU program while I was senior in graduate school. The program Don created there to show URM scientists the graduate programs available to them at Vanderbilt is incredible. At PreVU, Don helped me realize that I actually could go to graduate school and be competitive for PhD programs. His dedication to his students and diversity in science is endless and I am not the only one whose career he has impacted
Dr. Rafael Perez: Raf and I shared a room at Vanderbilt PreVU. We kept in constant contact during the PhD interview process both had UNC or Vandy as the top choice. He chose Vandy, and I went to UNC. We are both postdocs now, still keep in touch, and enthusiastically celebrate each others successes.
Dr. Ashalla Freeman: Ever since I met Ashalla on my interview weekend at UNC she has been in my corner and supported me through my training. The culture she has fostered in the UNC IMSD is incredible and her dedication to her trainees is amazing. She has always provide the wise guidance and council I and many of my peers needed to navigate our graduate training. I remember numerous times going to Ashalla's office for advice on what felt like a crisis situation and she always helped me navigate through it successfully.
Dr. Brian Garret: I believe I have told Brian this story shortly after he defended his thesis. Brian was on a student panel during my interview weekend and shared some of his strategies to be successful and feel accomplished each day. He would write down a list of goals on a sticky note and cross them off one by one as he completed them, and if any remained transfer them on to a new sticky note for the next day. To this day I still use this method to keep organized and feel some daily sense of success.
Dr. Valerie Ashby: I hope many of us are familiar with Valerie Ashby, her energy and charisma is that of legend. Valerie was my department chair when I joined the department of chemistry at UNC. But I interacted with her more frequently after she left for the dark side, duke. Despite going to Duke, she would return to UNC to talk to the IMSD students about imposter syndrome. Her advice during these seminars reminded me that I really did belong and helped me beat imposter syndrome.
Dr. Richard Watkins: Richard Watkins was about to defend his PhD when I was a first year student at UNC. Richard and I participated on a student panel together sharing our experiences with the UNC IMSD and how it has helped us along so far in graduate school. Richard would go on to become the director of Chancellors Science Scholars at UNC , a program designed to promote diversity in STEM in the undergraduate ranks. By my last year at UNC we had worked together to organize multiple diversity in stem conferences together and his dedication to diversity is inspirational.
Dr. Brandon Anjuwon Foster: Brandon was a few years head of me at UNC and active in the IMSD. During a variety of IMSD events, lunches, etc Brandon would always have insightful advice. His open discussions about the postdoc search process were illuminating for me and would help me immensely when I went through the process a year later.
Dr. Nur Shahir: Nur was in my BBSP and IMSD cohorts at UNC. Her wit and optimistic pessimism were always refreshing. As a member of my IMSD cohort she was always there to offer support, advice and suggestions to myself and the rest of our colleagues.We also helped organize multiple IMSD symposia and Diversity in STEM conferences together.
Dr. Christopher Barnes: Christopher and I are both part of the Pielak Mafia, aka alumni of Gary Pielak's lab. I have been in the same training environments, both Pielak lab alumni and the department of Structural Biology at Pitt. But Christopher and I didn't meet until 2018 when he came back to Carolina to give a talk. Christopher has been an incredible resource to have access to while navigating the early years of my postdoc/ applying for fellowships, and I look forward to the advice he can provide when I go on the job market.
Dr. George Langford: I met George as part of a reception at the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. George has had an incredible and distinguished career as a scientist. His persistence as a URM scientist since the 1960's is incredibly inspiring. Additionally, He has helped create multiple programs to promote diversity in science while still publishing science as recently as 2018 according to his SU page.
Dr. Juanita Limas: Juanita is a PhD candidate at UNC and a member of the IMSD. Juanita does really cool work studying the cell cycle/cancer where she is supported as an HHMI Gilliam Fellow and a Burroughs Wellcome Fund GDEP fellow. Her work with and advocacy for SACNAS inspired me to join SACNAS and volunteer with them to support their annual conference.
Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett: I met Kizzy through the IMSD at UNC, I remember getting advice from her while a young graduate student. Now in the midst of the COVID crisis Kizzy is leading the charge in vaccine development. I remember seeing a picture of her on politico showing lab research to the COVID response team, there was the president, the director of the NIH, the director of the NIAID, ALL LISTENING TO KIZZY. My immediate response was OMG SHE'S A TARHEEL I KNOW HER FROM IMSD, GO KIZZY!
Dr. David Martinez: Before I go and compliment David, I have to point out that he did not find the correct institution in the triangle until his postdoc. David did his PhD at Duke and then his postdoc in the Baric lab at UNC. David is a member of the 2019 Rising Stars in Biomed cohort selected by MIT, a Burroughs Wellcome Fund PDEP fellow, and a recent HHMI Hanna Gray awardee. Recently, Davids work on SARS-CoV2 has been incredible.
Dr. Daniel Gonzalez: Besides the fact that Daniel finishes his brisket in the oven, by and large he is someone you want to know and whose career you want to follow. Daniel is always there to help and his view for his future is inspiring. Also he is a frequent contributor to the Science BBQ twitter scene and I cant wait for the pandemic to be done so we can have him out to PGH for a BBQ meet up with Craig Kaplan (@triggerloop) who is local.
Dr. Tina Termini: Tina has been such a fantastic resource for me while I navigate postdoc life and start to think about the next steps, she is super supportive, always there to help and even sends things she thinks I should apply for. The other cool thing about Tina, is we were both at UMD at the same time but never new each other! I am excited to see her start her lab at Fred Hutch and see if any of our discussions go anywhere cool!
Dr. Ismail Ahmed: Ismail is a great dude, who I have been fortunate to get to know throughout the pandemic. I admire his ability to use his training in chemistry and biochemistry from his PhD and apply it to Neuroscience for his postdoc. Also his willingness to help when I needed to practice a 15 minute talk highlights how nice of a guy he is! I am forever appreciative of that.
I don't want to generalize too much but also my whole PDEP cohort y'all are fantastic and push me to be a better person, mentor, and scientist.
This list is ever growing and I know there are numerous people who I am missing due to memory lapse, I apologize.
Dr. Carlos Castañeda: Carlos was postdoc when I was an undergrad in the Fushman lab at UMD. He trained me in the lab, taught me numerous lessons, and helped me develop skills I still use this very day. He is currently a faculty member at Syracuse, and continues to be a friend, mentor, and inspiration to me. If you are a graduate student looking for a postdoc and see he has an open position, pursue it, you will get world class training.
Dr. Don Brunson: I have not been in contact with Don for many years, but Don invited me attend the Vanderbilt PreVU program while I was senior in graduate school. The program Don created there to show URM scientists the graduate programs available to them at Vanderbilt is incredible. At PreVU, Don helped me realize that I actually could go to graduate school and be competitive for PhD programs. His dedication to his students and diversity in science is endless and I am not the only one whose career he has impacted
Dr. Rafael Perez: Raf and I shared a room at Vanderbilt PreVU. We kept in constant contact during the PhD interview process both had UNC or Vandy as the top choice. He chose Vandy, and I went to UNC. We are both postdocs now, still keep in touch, and enthusiastically celebrate each others successes.
Dr. Ashalla Freeman: Ever since I met Ashalla on my interview weekend at UNC she has been in my corner and supported me through my training. The culture she has fostered in the UNC IMSD is incredible and her dedication to her trainees is amazing. She has always provide the wise guidance and council I and many of my peers needed to navigate our graduate training. I remember numerous times going to Ashalla's office for advice on what felt like a crisis situation and she always helped me navigate through it successfully.
Dr. Brian Garret: I believe I have told Brian this story shortly after he defended his thesis. Brian was on a student panel during my interview weekend and shared some of his strategies to be successful and feel accomplished each day. He would write down a list of goals on a sticky note and cross them off one by one as he completed them, and if any remained transfer them on to a new sticky note for the next day. To this day I still use this method to keep organized and feel some daily sense of success.
Dr. Valerie Ashby: I hope many of us are familiar with Valerie Ashby, her energy and charisma is that of legend. Valerie was my department chair when I joined the department of chemistry at UNC. But I interacted with her more frequently after she left for the dark side, duke. Despite going to Duke, she would return to UNC to talk to the IMSD students about imposter syndrome. Her advice during these seminars reminded me that I really did belong and helped me beat imposter syndrome.
Dr. Richard Watkins: Richard Watkins was about to defend his PhD when I was a first year student at UNC. Richard and I participated on a student panel together sharing our experiences with the UNC IMSD and how it has helped us along so far in graduate school. Richard would go on to become the director of Chancellors Science Scholars at UNC , a program designed to promote diversity in STEM in the undergraduate ranks. By my last year at UNC we had worked together to organize multiple diversity in stem conferences together and his dedication to diversity is inspirational.
Dr. Brandon Anjuwon Foster: Brandon was a few years head of me at UNC and active in the IMSD. During a variety of IMSD events, lunches, etc Brandon would always have insightful advice. His open discussions about the postdoc search process were illuminating for me and would help me immensely when I went through the process a year later.
Dr. Nur Shahir: Nur was in my BBSP and IMSD cohorts at UNC. Her wit and optimistic pessimism were always refreshing. As a member of my IMSD cohort she was always there to offer support, advice and suggestions to myself and the rest of our colleagues.We also helped organize multiple IMSD symposia and Diversity in STEM conferences together.
Dr. Christopher Barnes: Christopher and I are both part of the Pielak Mafia, aka alumni of Gary Pielak's lab. I have been in the same training environments, both Pielak lab alumni and the department of Structural Biology at Pitt. But Christopher and I didn't meet until 2018 when he came back to Carolina to give a talk. Christopher has been an incredible resource to have access to while navigating the early years of my postdoc/ applying for fellowships, and I look forward to the advice he can provide when I go on the job market.
Dr. George Langford: I met George as part of a reception at the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. George has had an incredible and distinguished career as a scientist. His persistence as a URM scientist since the 1960's is incredibly inspiring. Additionally, He has helped create multiple programs to promote diversity in science while still publishing science as recently as 2018 according to his SU page.
Dr. Juanita Limas: Juanita is a PhD candidate at UNC and a member of the IMSD. Juanita does really cool work studying the cell cycle/cancer where she is supported as an HHMI Gilliam Fellow and a Burroughs Wellcome Fund GDEP fellow. Her work with and advocacy for SACNAS inspired me to join SACNAS and volunteer with them to support their annual conference.
Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett: I met Kizzy through the IMSD at UNC, I remember getting advice from her while a young graduate student. Now in the midst of the COVID crisis Kizzy is leading the charge in vaccine development. I remember seeing a picture of her on politico showing lab research to the COVID response team, there was the president, the director of the NIH, the director of the NIAID, ALL LISTENING TO KIZZY. My immediate response was OMG SHE'S A TARHEEL I KNOW HER FROM IMSD, GO KIZZY!
Dr. David Martinez: Before I go and compliment David, I have to point out that he did not find the correct institution in the triangle until his postdoc. David did his PhD at Duke and then his postdoc in the Baric lab at UNC. David is a member of the 2019 Rising Stars in Biomed cohort selected by MIT, a Burroughs Wellcome Fund PDEP fellow, and a recent HHMI Hanna Gray awardee. Recently, Davids work on SARS-CoV2 has been incredible.
Dr. Daniel Gonzalez: Besides the fact that Daniel finishes his brisket in the oven, by and large he is someone you want to know and whose career you want to follow. Daniel is always there to help and his view for his future is inspiring. Also he is a frequent contributor to the Science BBQ twitter scene and I cant wait for the pandemic to be done so we can have him out to PGH for a BBQ meet up with Craig Kaplan (@triggerloop) who is local.
Dr. Tina Termini: Tina has been such a fantastic resource for me while I navigate postdoc life and start to think about the next steps, she is super supportive, always there to help and even sends things she thinks I should apply for. The other cool thing about Tina, is we were both at UMD at the same time but never new each other! I am excited to see her start her lab at Fred Hutch and see if any of our discussions go anywhere cool!
Dr. Ismail Ahmed: Ismail is a great dude, who I have been fortunate to get to know throughout the pandemic. I admire his ability to use his training in chemistry and biochemistry from his PhD and apply it to Neuroscience for his postdoc. Also his willingness to help when I needed to practice a 15 minute talk highlights how nice of a guy he is! I am forever appreciative of that.
I don't want to generalize too much but also my whole PDEP cohort y'all are fantastic and push me to be a better person, mentor, and scientist.
This list is ever growing and I know there are numerous people who I am missing due to memory lapse, I apologize.