G-RISE Monthly Meetings

Thank you to Ashley Copenhaver for presenting on “Sex-specific mechanisms underlying long-term potentiation at hippocampus-nucleus accumbens synapses” and Karndeep Singh for presenting on “eIF4E-Dependent Capture of Monomeric HIV-1 RNA Genome”.

We have two awards that were established in honor of the parents of our donors, who like to remain anonymous. Each year Meyerhoff Graduate student is selected for each award. These awards recognize students each year who have advanced to candidacy and whose outstanding meritorious service to humanity is continually demonstrated by ongoing acts of generosity and kindness. Congratulations to Kayry Segarra and Aishwarya Iyer!

Thank you Dr. Janet Little for delivering a talk on time management, prioritizing, and resilience. Janet’s business, Optimal Vitality MD, LLC focuses on empowering professionals experiencing stress, overwhelm and burnout to stand in their POWER without sacrificing their health and well-being. Dr. Jan is also an alum of UMBC and the Meyerhoff Scholarship Program.

Dr. Letitia Dzirasa currently serves as the Deputy Mayor of Equity, Health, and Human Services for the City of Baltimore. From March 2019 through April 2023, she served as the first African American female Health Commissioner for the Baltimore City Health Department, the longest continuously running health department in the United States.  During her tenure, she led Baltimore City through the global pandemic, and under her leadership, Baltimore City, from January 2020 through June 2021, fared better than most comparable jurisdictions in terms of incidence rate (81st percentile), mortality rate (73rd percentile), case fatality rate (56th percentile), and vaccinations in population over the age of 12 (90th percentile).

Her areas of expertise include pediatrics, public health policy, and the social determinants of health, and creating opportunities for equitable access to healthcare for all.  She attended Meharry Medical College, graduating summa cum laude in 2007, and trained in pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Dzirasa is passionate about ensuring equitable access to care for all and addressing the root causes contributing to the social determinants of health. Dr. Dzirasa and her husband established the Dzirasa Family Foundation to support STEM-based initiatives across Baltimore City. She lives in Baltimore with her husband and her youngest son.

Thank you Dr. Brittny Davis Lynn for sharing your path. We enjoyed hearing about the challenges and what you loved for each step in your PhD and your career. Brittny is Associate Director, Scientific Management and Dissemination | Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, NCI.

“Accessing Faculty Jobs with Less Insecurity and More Support”

Students competed in a 3-minute thesis (3MT) competition while sharing their research interests with fellow M’s. About the 3-minute thesis: https://threeminutethesis.uq.edu.au/

Congratulations to the 3MT winners !

In this meeting, we discussed the following articles:

Hoover, Eric. “Here’s How Yale Is Changing Its Admissions Practices for a New Era.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, 7 Sept. 2023, https://www.chronicle.com/article/sffa-yale-reach-agreement-to-dismiss-lawsuit.

This month, UMB hosted our joint meeting on their campus which featured presentations from UMB IMSD students Nathaniel McClean (Pharmaceutical Sciences) and Daniela Franco (GPILS Neuroscience)

We hosted our 1st annual Joint Meyerhoff Graduate Program Meeting with the UMB campus. At this meeting we listened to a presentation from Monia Kabandana (Chemistry) and Jabarey Wells (Psychology), announced the winners for the Jackson and McIntosh awards will be also announced, and played kickball!

In this meeting, we discussed the following article: Woolston, C. ‘I don’t want this kind of life’: graduate students question career options. Nature 611, 413–416 (2022).

Thank you, Marykate, for your talk on how to navigate job offers and effectively negotiate its salary and for sharing your presentation (see link).

Panelist in various stages of their lives and careers discuss navigating the professional world with a healthy work-life balance.

Thank you to our panelists!

Dr. Crystal Watkins (Medstar Health)
Dr. Fernando Vonhoff (UMBC, Biological Sciences)
Dr. Laurie Sutton (UMBC, Biological Sciences)
Dr. Robin Cresiski (UMBC, Graduate School and G-RISE Co-PI)

Students competed in a 3-minute thesis (3MT) competition while sharing their research interests with fellow M’s. About the 3-minute thesis: https://threeminutethesis.uq.edu.au/

Congratulations to the 3MT winners !

In this meeting, we discussed the following paper: Cech, E. A. The intersectional privilege of white able-bodied heterosexual men in STEM. Sci Adv 8, eabo1558 (2022).

We screened Picture a Scientist followed by a discussion about the important topics highlighted in the movie.

Students are prompted to reflect on these questions before the film:

1. How do you picture a typical scientist?
2. What issues do you expect to see in a film about women and diversity in science?
3. Why are you watching the film? What are your goals?
4. Do you have any current events in mind when going in to watch this film?
5. Why is diversity in science important to you?

Discussion Questions – after viewing the film:

1. How do you picture a typical scientist now? Has it changed from before the film?
2. What new ideas do you have about ways to make science more equitable for everyone?
3. How do some of the experiences shared in the film compare to your own?
4. How can the science community accommodate identities who don’t have clearly visible markers of marginalization (e.g., sexual orientation, low-income, disability, mental health, etc.)? How might the struggles of folks with these backgrounds be different from those portrayed in the film?
5. Dr. Willenbring described her decision to wait to report what happened to her in Antarctica. Why do you think she made that choice? Do you think you would have made the same choice?
6. Should the focus of a resulting complaint be on the intent of the perpetrator or the impact on the complainant?
7. Dr. Burks talks about the pressure of conforming her reactions to inappropriate behavior, so she isn’t dismissed and cast into “the angry Black woman trope.” What are some of the ways that you have felt pressure to conform?
8. Dr. Burks describes some of the slights she has endured in her career, like being mistaken for a janitor, being ignored in meetings, or being told to straighten her
   hair for a more professional appearance. Have you experienced or witnessed similar behavior? How did it impact your work?
9. Dr. Jane Willenbring said: “One of my goals in mentoring was to be someone I needed when I was younger.” What are your goals in mentoring?
10. A major pioneer in the movement for gender equity in science (Dr. Nancy Hopkins) said that she wasn’t sure she would go through it all again because of the amount of time and effort that her (hugely successful) fight took away from her science. How does that make you feel?

Get involved. You can volunteer your time and donate to such organizations working toward a more equitable society. Many great organizations focus on equity, justice, and inclusion in STEM, such as:

• 500 Women Scientists SACNAS
• 500 Queer Scientists Scientista
• Association for Women in Science
• Society of Women Engineers
• The SErCH Foundation