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Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to include another issue of RFS Briefings with some timely and encouraging updates on women in science.
An important birthday to remember…
On July 25, 1920, X-ray crystallographer Rosalind Elsie Franklin was born in London. Her untimely death on April 16, 1958 at age 37 was surely a tragedy for science, and humanity. Franklin’s work was critical in the discovery of DNA and RNA. She never received the recognition she deserved and died of ovarian cancer four years before the Nobel Prize was awarded to Watson and Crick. They unfortunately did not give her the credit we now know was hers. Read more.
Please continue to share important news and opportunities with us so that we may share it with you and others who are committed to supporting the careers of exceptional women in science.
Stay safe and sound,
Rosalind Franklin Society Awards Recognize Outstanding Contributions from Women and Minorities.
The 2022 Rosalind Franklin Society (RFS) Awards in Science, recognizing outstanding peer-reviewed research by women and underrepresented minorities in STEM, have been announced. The anthology of award winners is available digitally on the Rosalind Franklin Society website as well as in print. The book is a remarkable compendium of research in science, engineering, and medicine that has been accomplished by outstanding investigators. Read more.
The Genome Writers Guild (GWG) and Rosalind Franklin Society have joined forces again.
The Genome Writers Guild (GWG) and Rosalind Franklin Society have joined forces again to recognize amazing scientists by awarding the Rosalind Franklin Medal. This is our annual award to women working in the fields of genome engineering and synthetic biology and researchers in the early stage of their careers.
Congratulations to the RFS Medal Winner, Grace McAuley, and the finalists Dr. Mandana Arbab and Dr. Katie Galloway.
Evelyn M. Witkin, Who Discovered How DNA Repairs Itself, Dies at 102.
in a career that began at the dawn of modern genetic research in the late 1940s, Dr. Witkin explored the ways in which radiation both damaged DNA and generated a repair mechanism, what she came to call the SOS response. Her research shed new light on how solar radiation and chemicals in the environment impact our genetic makeup. Read more.
How centuries of sexism excluded women from science — and how to redress the balance.
Not Just for the Boys is an enjoyable and useful primer on the challenges faced by women in STEM. Athene Donald, an experimental physicist at the University of Cambridge, UK, and a leading authority on gender-equity issues, draws evidence from history, neuroscience and social science to explain why gender bias is rife in STEM. Read more.
NASA chief Kate Calvin discusses how climate change is affecting everyday life.
Kate Calvin, NASA chief scientist and climate adviser, breaks down on "Face the Nation" how climate change is driving some of the most recent weather and health events. Read more. Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls.
Female physicists aren’t represented in the media – and this lack of representation hurts the physics field.
As a physics professor who studies ways to support women in STEM fields and a film studies professor who worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood, Chandralekha Singh and Carl Kurlander believe the movie Oppenheimer’s depiction of women reinforces stereotypes about who can succeed in science. It also represents a larger trend of women’s contributions in science going unrecognized in modern media. Read more.
Science’s gender gap: the shocking data that reveal its true extent.
Until the 2000s, women were under-represented, but in the past 20 years, women have been advantaged relative to similarly credentialed men in psychology, economics and mathematics. Equity for Women in Science is a convincing reply to those who advance such arguments. Less overt — all but invisible — gender gaps are still with us. Read more.
An Astrobiologist’s Search for Life in Space—and Meaning on Earth.
Aomawa Shields, an astrobiologist at UC Irvine, studies distant worlds using computer models to evaluate their climates and assess whether they might be friendly to alien life. In her new book out, Life on Other Planets, she discusses her scientific work, as well as her own experiences as one of the few Black women in physics and astronomy and as a classically trained actor who completed her master of fine arts degree at UCLA. Read more. Image: NASA.
IGI’s Women in Enterprising Science Program Welcomes Four New Fellows.
The Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI) welcomed a new cohort of Fellows for the HS Chau Women in Enterprising Science Program (WIES), a unique program designed to promote gender equity in bio-entrepreneurship.The Fellows will be provided with up to $150,000 in support for the first year to develop their research into an early-stage entrepreneurial concept. Read more.
Keystone Symposia celebrates their 50th anniversary.
Join Keystone Symposia (a member of the Rosalind Franklin Society, Council of Academic Institutions) for their Upcoming Conferences in the Field of Cardiovascular Biology. Under the leadership of CEO Dr. Deborah Johnson, these symposia are true game-changers! Read more.
Cutting the gender employment gap in half could boost global GDP by 6%.
Fifteen years after producing a key report on women in the global workforce, Goldman Sachs Research finds there’s been progress since then in women’s education and participation in the job market. But even so, gender gaps in pay and employment are still persistent. Read more.
The CDC is in crisis — can its new leader save it?
Mandy Cohen, a physician who served as North Carolina’s health secretary until the end of 2021, started her tenure as CDC director. Cohen takes over the role previously filled by Rochelle Walensky, an infectious-disease specialist who left the CDC less than a year after announcing an initiative to overhaul the agency’s structure and operations. Read more. Image: North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), UNC Public Health.
How To Address Women Facing Ageism At Each And Every Stage Of Their Career.
The benefit of a multi-generational workforce means that we can utilize and learn from different perspectives. One isn’t better than the other, but together, give us unique insights in how best to create technologies and solutions for society - an incredibly diverse group. Read more.
Meet the 2023 Winners of the McNulty Prize.
The McNulty Foundation and the Aspen Institute announced the three winners of the 2023 John P. McNulty Prize, each of whom will receive $150,000 towards their organization. Their transformative social ventures address three of the most important issues of this generation, from revolutionizing mental healthcare, to addressing the global plastic crisis, to restoring the promise of economic mobility. Read more.
Meet DRDRI’s new director.
Dominique Pichard has been selected as NCATS’ Director of the Division of Rare Diseases Research Innovation (DRDRI). She will guide and coordinate collaborative research and patient engagement efforts to speed rare disease diagnosis, treatment, and care. Her research has focused on identifying new treatments and improving clinical trial design for rare diseases. Since 2019, she has served as the Chief Science Officer at the International Rett Syndrome Foundation. She will officially join the team on September 11. Read more. Image: The International Rett Syndrome Foundation.
Sitting Down With… Theresa Heah, CEO, Intergalactic Therapeutics, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Theresa Heah, CEO of Intergalactic Therapeutics, is leading a team working tirelessly to advance safer, more effective, more versatile, and more accessible solutions to address ophthalmological disorders and beyond. Read more.
What the Film Oppenheimer Probably Will Not Talk About: The Lost Women of the Manhattan Project.
Hundreds of the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project were women. They were physicists, chemists, engineers and mathematicians. The Lost Women of Science initiative brings you the story of one of them. Read more.
Attention all allies: why there are so few women in science and how you can help.
Despite years of campaigning, women are still wildly under-represented in science. According to UNESCO, only one third of scientific researchers are female. In physics, the imbalance is even starker, with women making up under a quarter of undergraduate physicists in the UK and only 10% of physics professors. Read more.
Applications Open for the 2023 IAEA Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme.
Named after the pioneering physicist and twice Nobel Prize laureate, Marie Sklodowska-Curie, the MSCFP encourages women to enter and pursue careers in the nuclear field by providing scholarships for tuition and living costs along with internship opportunities. Read more.
New Voices in Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
The application for the next cohort of New Voices members is now open! This is a cohort-based leadership program that promotes collaboration among outstanding early- and mid-career scientists, engineers, and medical professionals. Read more.
Eunice Newton Foote's 204th Birthday.
This slideshow Doodle celebrates the 204th birthday of American scientist and women’s rights activist Eunice Newton Foote. Foote was the first person to discover the greenhouse effect and its role in the warming of Earth’s climate. Read more.
Subscribe to our newsletter (RFS Briefings) at Rosalind Franklin Society | Substack
Marianna Limas, Social Media Manager
Nilda Rivera, Partnership and Events Manager
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Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to include another issue of RFS Briefings with some timely and encouraging updates on women in science.
Women and girls must be at the center of health innovation to ensure all people can live healthy and productive lives. The National Institutes of Health and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-hosted the Innovation Equity Forum last week to map out global opportunities to advance women's health equity. Women's health - from contraception to maternal care to basic research - demands urgent attention and funding to ensure that women, everywhere, can remain in good health. When women thrive, we all thrive. Last week, we joined women's health experts to discuss challenges and opportunities to accelerate progress on women's health. I was thrilled to be part of the Steering Committee (left, below) and working with Jamie White, Health Science Strategy and Relations Lead, at ORWH (right, below). This discussion will help set the stage for the Grand Challenges discussions in October in Senegal. Stay tuned!
Please continue to share important news and opportunities with us so that we may share it with you and others who are committed to supporting the careers of exceptional women in science.
Stay safe and sound,
Karla Shepard Rubinger
Executive Director
Rosalind Franklin Society
www.rosalindfranklinsociety.org
These researchers are reimagining animal behavior through a feminist lens.
Evolutionary biologist Ambika Kamath and social scientist Melina Packer of the University of Colorado Boulder are working to dismantle outdated, biased scientific ideas through research and a new curriculum. Read more.
3 UK universities nurturing a new generation of female engineers.
As the demands for STEM careers grow, where should aspiring female engineers study engineering? If you’re looking for an empowering education in engineering that’ll inspire you to be a global changemaker, here are four universities to consider. Read more.
Carol Robinson Inducted into Prestigious American Philosophical Society (APS) for 2023.
Dame Carol Robinson, the Dr. Lee's Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery at Oxford University, has received recognition for her pioneering work in mass spectrometry techniques spanning more than three decades. Her research has revolutionized our understanding of protein structures and interactions, particularly in relation to diseases. Read more. Image credit: Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery
New method offers unprecedented detail in tracking protein activity in living cells.
Vilcek Creative Promise Prize-winning scientist Alice Ting of Stanford is the lead author on a new study published in Cell Press News that outlines a revolutionary technique for tracking protein activity in living cells. Read more.
Understanding the role of KMT2D in MLL-AF9 acute myeloid leukemia.
Nicole Cruz, with mentor Robert G. Roeder, at The Rockefeller University, New York, received the latest Mark Foundation for Cancer Research Physician-Scientist award in partnership with Damon Runyon. Read more. Image credit: Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation & The Mark Foundation.
The Warren Alpert Distinguished Scholar Awards.
The Warren Alpert Distinguished Scholars Fellowship Award submission period is now OPEN. The Award will support individual postdoctoral scientists of exceptional creativity in the field of neurosciences. The new enrollment period will run from June of 2023 to November 1, 2023. Read more.
Wistar Institute Study Gives New Insight into How Cancer Metastasizes to the Brain.
A new study by Wistar scientists published in Nature Communications shows that a type of brain cell called astrocytes plays an important role in promoting brain metastasis by recruiting a specific subpopulation of immune cells. The finding could be a first step toward identifying potential targets for therapies to fight cancers that metastasize to the brain. This would fill a significant unmet need, said researcher Qing Chen, M.D., Ph.D. Read more. Image credit: Wistar Institute.
The V Foundation for Cancer Research Announces the First Class of A Grant of Her Own: The Women Scientists Innovation Award for Cancer Research.
This landmark initiative is helping to counteract longstanding gender disparities in research by investing $8 million in the groundbreaking work of 11 women scientists leading the charge in cancer research. Read more.
Carolyn Kraus receives competitive Ruth L. Kirschstein award.
Carolyn Kraus, a PhD candidate in the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Interdisciplinary Graduate Program, has received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases to study how CRISPR/Cas9 tools can be used to develop a therapeutic for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Read more. Image credit: UMass Chan Medical School.
Women in STEM: An Inspiring Journey with Dr. Jo Brewer.
“At school I was encouraged to follow science because I was good at it. It felt natural to follow what I was good at, and they pushed everybody to be the best they could be. That’s how I was brought up. Later in my career, having a family and children also caused some good and bad experiences. When I went on maternity leave with my first child, that was a really good experience because I was one of four mothers in a company of about 40 people. We all went on maternity leave at the same time. We were all encouraged to come back on our own terms because we were all really valued. And that was fantastic,” says Dr. Jo Brewer, Chief Scientific Officer at Adaptimmune. Read more.
No drug for COVID: ‘the most successful failure in my life’
Laura Walker tells Nature why she moved to industry after her PhD in immunology and microbiology, and the challenges of developing a drug during a global pandemic. In March, Laura Walker left the biopharmaceutical company she had co-founded three years earlier to join Moderna as the head of its infectious disease biotherapeutics team in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Read more.
Unraveling connections between the brain and gut.
Under the direction of Vilcek Creative Promise Prizewinner Polina Anikeeva, MIT engineers have designed optogenetic techniques for probing connections between the gut and the brain. In a new study, the researchers demonstrated that they could induce feelings of fullness or reward-seeking behavior in mice by manipulating cells of the intestine. Read more. Image credit: National Science Foundation (Wikipedia)
Interview: Women in Science - Pamela Adede and her hope for future generations of women to thrive in science.
Pamela Adede is a seasoned computer scientist and data professional known for providing high quality service whilst employing her multi talents which include efficiency, analytical thinking, and fast learning. Read more.
Don’t get mad, get equal: putting an end to misogyny in science.
“Surviving as a woman in science shouldn’t be such a perilous and exhausting high-wire balancing act. We will all be more powerful and effective when female leaders are supported to be equitable participants in the diverse and holistic scientific organizations of the future,” Alison Bentley & Rachael Garrett write in an article for Nature News. Read more.
Interview ‘Designing a vaccine that covers all cancers is hard’: biotech pioneer Lindy Durrant.
“Cancer is my game,” says Prof. Lindy Durrant, an immunologist, founder and chief executive of Scancell, which is developing vaccines that could offer a needle-free protection against Covid as well as novel treatments against cancer. The immunologist who runs Scancell is trialing novel treatments to attack tumors, as well as needle-free Covid jabs. Read more. Image credit: University of Nottingham.
Women in Science: How Charco Neurotech's Lucy Jung is 'restoring joy' for Parkinson's patients.
Lucy Jung is the CEO and founder at Charco Neurotech, a medtech start-up which has developed the CEU1, a wearable device for Parkinson's, that uses vibrotactile stimulation to reduce symptoms of slowness and stiffness - resulting in improved movement. Biopharma Reporter spoke to her about her background, how she got involved in the Parkinson's space and her fascination for problem-solving. Read more.
Subscribe to our newsletter (RFS Briefings) at rosalindfranklinsociety.substack.com
Marianna Limas, Social Media Manager
Nilda Rivera, Partnership and Events Manager
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Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to include another issue of RFS Briefings with some timely and encouraging updates on women in science.
As we focus on building a Council of Corporate Leadership, we of course continue to grow our prestigious Council of Academic Institutions. We are excited to welcome our newest members:
- Barnard
- Notre Dame
- Sanford Stem Cell Institute, UCSD
- Feinstein Institutes of Medicine, AWSM (Advancing Women in Science & Medicine)
We look forward to showcasing their work and their leadership in RFS Briefings, at our year-end conference, and special webinars during the year.
Please continue to share important news and opportunities with us so that we may share it with you and others who are committed to supporting the careers of exceptional women in science.
Stay safe and sound,
Karla Shepard Rubinger
Executive Director
Rosalind Franklin Society
www.rosalindfranklinsociety.org
The Rita Rossi Colwell Center: Baltimore's venue for community events, innovation, & science.
Last week, we celebrated the naming of The Rita Rossi Colwell Center! Dr. Colwell, RFS President, was instrumental in the founding of the Columbus Center for the purpose of expanding environmental science education and research in Baltimore City. Did you know? Our esteemed president was the 1st female Director of NSF, published 800+ articles and 15 books and holds 62 honorary degrees! We highly recommend Dr. Rita Colwell's book "A Lab of One's Own: One Woman's Personal Journey Through Sexism in Science" (Simon & Schuster 2020). The book is a memoir-manifesto about the entrenched sexism in science, the elaborate detours women have taken and how to fix the system. Read more.
The Gold Foundation’s 2023 Annual Gala.
The Annual Gala marks a special time each year when the Gold Foundation gathers its community of doctors, nurses, students, healthcare education leaders, medical and nursing faculty and deans, corporate executives, patients, families, nonprofit partners, and supporters in a singular celebration of humanism in healthcare. Learn about the 2023 National Humanism in Medicine Medalists in four special profiles, published in the journal and online: Dr. Gina S. Brown, Dr. Richard I. Levin, the Honorable Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, and Dr. Eileen Sullivan-Marx. Read more.
NSF selects 34 semifinalists for the inaugural NSF Regional Innovation Engines competition.
The U.S. National Science Foundation announced 34 semifinalists for the first-ever NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) competition, spanning nearly all key technology areas and societal and economic challenges highlighted in the "CHIPS and Science Act." There are only 9 women selected among the 34 semifinalists for the NSF Regional Innovation Engines competition! There’s a world of opportunity out here, NSF! Read more.
Dr. Vanessa Kerry appointed as WHO Director-General Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health.
Dr Kerry, a renowned global health expert and medical doctor and CEO of Seed Global Health, will play a pivotal role in amplifying WHO's climate and health messaging and undertake high-level advocacy. Read more.
On International Women in Engineering Day, engineers highlight the need for IT diversity.
June 23 marks International Women in Engineering Day, a time to look back at why engineers were drawn to the field, what made them stay and what they hope for the future. It’s also a day to recognize just how essential diverse teams are when building and designing technology. Read more.
SUSTAIN - women in research.
Not enough women in science are securing senior leadership posts in the UK. The SUSTAIN program seeks to address this gap. See the list of the 24 new participants funded by the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Medical Research Council, the Royal Society or the Royal Academy of Engineering. Read more.
A $25,000 Award for Women Scientists Working to Improve Soil Health.
The Story Exchange, an award-winning nonprofit media organization dedicated to elevating women’s voices, is seeking submissions for its 3rd annual Women In Science Incentive Prize. The cash prize will support U.S.-based women working to find innovative, science-based solutions as climate change disrupts and depletes our natural resources. Read more.
OMRF scientist brings conference of age-related disease experts to OKC.
Serving as president of the American Aging Association comes with one major perk, says Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientist Holly Van Remmen, Ph.D. “You get to choose where the next year’s annual meeting will be held,” Van Remmen said. Read more. Image: OMRF.
'Her Space, Her Time': Quantum physicist Dr Shohini Ghose to release book championing women in science.
Dr. Shohini Ghose specializes in quantum information science and is one of few female physicists paving the way for women in science, a field traditionally dominated by men. During lockdown, Ghose decided to write her third book, which celebrates great women from the history of physics and science. Read more. Images: Dr. Shohini Ghose / Amazon.
Subscribe to our newsletter (RFS Briefings) at https://womeninscience.substack.com/
Marianna Limas, Social Media Manager
Nilda Rivera, Partnership and Events Manager |
|
Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to include another issue of RFS Briefings with some timely and encouraging updates on women in science.
Please continue to share important news and opportunities with us so that we may share it with you and others who are committed to supporting the careers of exceptional women in science.
Stay safe and sound,
Karla Shepard Rubinger
Executive Director
Rosalind Franklin Society
www.rosalindfranklinsociety.org
Interview with Immunologist Akiko Iwasaki: ‘We are not done with Covid, not even close’
One of the scientists leading the race to try to unravel the complexities of long Covid is Akiko Iwasaki, an immunology professor at Yale School of Medicine. Iwasaki has been at the forefront of numerous research breakthroughs throughout the course of the pandemic. Most recently, Iwasaki has been awarded the prestigious Else Kröner Fresenius Prize for Medical Research, worth €2.5m, in part due to her ongoing work on long Covid. She also spoke at RFS Year-End meeting. Listen here. Read more. Image: Yale School of Medicine.
2024 Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science.
The Vilcek Foundation will award three Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise of $50,000 each to young, immigrant biomedical scientists who demonstrate outstanding early achievement. Applications will close TODAY, June 12, 2023. Read more.
Women in tech statistics: The hard truths of an uphill battle.
Despite national conversations about gender diversity in tech, numbers show that women are still underrepresented, underpaid, and often discriminated against in the tech industry. Read more.
9 Novels Honoring Women’s Unseen Contributions to Science.
Although there is still a long way to go, modern historians, writers, and crowd-sourced efforts like Wikipedia Edit-a-Thons have made considerable progress in finally recognizing the women scientists whose work has long been overlooked. Read more.
France A. Córdova awarded honorary Doctor of Science degree.
Congratulations to Dr. France A. Córdova for being recognized by Yale University with an honorary Doctor of Science degree. The Honorable France A. Córdova was appointed by President Barack Obama to lead the National Science Foundation (NSF), a post she held for a six-year term from 2014 to 2020. Read more. Image: Wikipedia (NSF/Stephen Voss)
Rude comments and bottom slaps: The things female doctors put up with.
“The reason women are leaving medicine is multifactorial, and it’s not, as some might suggest, due to women not wanting to work full-time,” Arghavan Salles said. The list of reasons, she says, is long: microaggressions, sexual harassment, undermining of our work and lack of support for families in the workplace. Read more.
The Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation honors cardiovascular champion.
Nanette Wenger, MD, MACC, MACP, FAHA, a pioneer and visionary in the field of cardiology, is the 2023 recipient of the Alma Dea Morani, MD Renaissance Woman award, the highest honor bestowed by the Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation. Read more.
Hidden Voices: Dr. Joanne Chory is Changing the World — One Seed at a Time.
What if plants could save the world? Dr. Joanne Chory, a plant geneticist at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, California, thinks that maybe they can. Chory is a widely respected scientist: she has received many top awards and honors throughout her career—including being elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and receiving the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, among others. Read more. Image Credit: Salk Institute.
Does Artificial Intelligence Help or Hurt Gender Diversity? Evidence from Two Field Experiments on Recruitment in Tech.
The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in recruitment is rapidly increasing and drastically changing how people apply to jobs and how applications are reviewed. In this paper, researchers use two field experiments to study how AI recruitment tools can impact gender diversity in the male-dominated technology sector, both overall and separately for labor supply and demand. Read more.
New Center for Ocean Education and Innovation Coming in 2025.
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences announced a $30 million expansion to its East Boothbay laboratory. “Research to understand the foundation of global ocean health will always be at the core of our work,” said Deborah Bronk, president and CEO. Read more.
Dr. Katalin Karikó recognized with honorary Doctor of Science degrees.
Congrats to Dr. Katalin Karikó, who was recognized by Princeton University with an honorary Doctor of Science degree just five days after being presented with one from Harvard! Watch the GEN/RosalindFranklinSociety webinar with Katalin Karikó on her pioneering research on mRNA.
Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Awardees, American Philosophical Society Members, and More.
Andrea Califano, Clyde '56 and Helen Wu Professor of Chemical Biology (in Systems Biology), was awarded $6,909,000 over seven years from the National Cancer Institute. Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic was recognized in the Top 50 Academic Life Science Entrepreneurs by BIOS and won the Annual award for the best paper by a woman in science by the Mary Ann Liebert Inc. and Rosalind Franklin Society. Read more.
Discover the laureates of the 25th L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awards.
The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awards honors five distinguished women scientists each year for the excellence of their work and their outstanding careers – one for each of the following five regions: Africa and the Arab States; Asia and the Pacific; Europe; Latin America and the Caribbean; and North America. The 2024 Call for nominations for the International Awards in Life and Environmental sciences is now open. An award of €100,000 will be given to each of the five laureates selected by a jury of internationally renowned experts. One of this year’s winners is Professor Aviv Regev, awarded for her pioneering work in single cell genomics (the study of individual cells). Read more about her impressive work. Professor Aviv Regev was an RFS speaker two years ago, she joined the panel "Awards: The Window or Just Window Dressing?" Watch it now.
SciGirls Stories: Black Women in STEM.
Meet five Black women scientists who are innovators, problem-solvers and STEM superstars who honor their racial identity and cultures. In this show, they share their strategies for overcoming challenges and finding success and joy in jobs where Black women are often underrepresented. They also inspire Black girls to pursue all kinds of interests and career paths through their individual stories. Read more.
Reimagining treatment for brain diseases to improve the lives of patients and their families: Ana Raquel Santa Maria.
Ana Raquel Santa Maria is inspired to Reimagine the World with better understanding, prevention, and treatment of brain diseases after seeing her grandparents suffer as they age, especially her grandmother who has dementia. Read more. Image Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University.
White House set to tap Obama veteran Mandy Cohen to lead CDC.
Former North Carolina health secretary Mandy Cohen, an Obama-era health official well known in Democratic policy circles, would replace outgoing CDC chief Rochelle Walensky, who is slated to leave the agency at the end of the month. Read more.
Genspace Executive Director.
Genspace is seeking a dynamic and passionate Executive Director (ED) to lead Genspace into its next chapter. The ED will oversee all aspects of strategy, programs, operations, community relations, fundraising, and financial management. Read more.
Global health advocate Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi wins Vilcek-Gold Award.
The Vilcek Foundation and The Arnold P. Gold Foundation have announced they will bestow the 2023 Vilcek-Gold Award for Humanism in Healthcare on Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) meeting in Seattle on November 4, 2023. Bottazzi will receive the Vilcek-Gold Award for her leadership in the development of a patent-free open-source vaccine for COVID-19, and for her career-long work to support healthcare education and access in vulnerable populations globally. Read more. Image: Texas Children’s Hospital.
Elizabeth R. Cantwell Named 17th USU President.
The Utah Board of Higher Education selected Elizabeth “Betsy” R. Cantwell as the 17th president of Utah State University on Friday, following an extensive national search. "Elizabeth Cantwell will be an innovative new president for Utah State University building on the already strong research excellence and statewide service model,” said Lisa-Michele Church, Utah Board of Higher Education chair. Read more.
Research: Women and non-white people have not fared well among Lasker Award recipients from 1946 to 2022.
The number of women and non-white people in academic medicine and biomedical research continues to increase, yet the proportion of women among Lasker Award recipients has not changed in more than 70 years. Read more.
Subscribe to our newsletter (RFS Briefings) at https://womeninscience.substack.com/
Written by Marianna Limas, Social Media Manager
Nilda Rivera, Partnership and Events Manager
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Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to include another issue of RFS Briefings with some timely and encouraging updates on women in science.
Rosalind Franklin Society Medal
Submission deadline: Extended to May 31st
Submit Nomination Now!
The Genome Writers Guild (GWG) and Rosalind Franklin Society have joined forces again to recognize amazing scientists by awarding the Rosalind Franklin Medal.
This award marries together GWG’s core objectives of facilitating genome writing conversation, collaboration, and exposure with the Rosalind Franklin Society’s goals of enabling more women to achieve higher recognition, visibility, appointments, and success in industry, academia, or government. The recipient of this award will embody the missions of both organizations.
The Rosalind Franklin Medal will not only recognize the outstanding body of research of a woman in the field of genome engineering and nucleic acids research, it also offers a platform to share that work with members and colleagues worldwide of both organizations. The recipient will be an invited speaker at the Genome Writers Guild annual conference this summer and annual Rosalind Franklin Board Meeting and Colloquium later this year. We invite the nominations of women working in the fields of genome engineering and synthetic biology. The researcher should be in an early stage of their career, including graduate students, post-docs and assistant professors. Nominees from all walks of genomics and nucleic acid research, including academia, industry, and government are welcome. Criteria used to identify the winner will include: scientific Impact; contribution to the fields of genome editing or nucleic acid research; contributions to equity, diversity, and inclusion; community outreach; and overall strength of support letter(s).
To nominate (or self-nominate):
Contact us for questions
Erin Nolan: [email protected]
Dr.Shondra Pruett-Miller: [email protected]
Please continue to share important news and opportunities with us so that we may share it with you and others who are committed to supporting the careers of exceptional women in science.
Stay safe and sound,
Karla Shepard Rubinger
Executive Director
Rosalind Franklin Society
www.rosalindfranklinsociety.org
Novel Innovations for Tissue Regeneration in Osteoarthritis.
ARPA-H, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, has launched a new program. The goal of NITRO (Novel Innovations for Tissue Regeneration in Osteoarthritis) is to find ways for the human body to repair its own joints. Osteoarthritis affects more than 32 million Americans, is the third most common type of disability, and has an estimated economic burden of more than $136 billion per year. A Proposers' Day for research teams interested in NITRO is scheduled for June 15 – learn more and register.
Research!America Calls for Entries for Discovery | Innovation | Health Prize.
Research!America’s 2023 Discovery | Innovation | Health Prize will recognize and provide support for a researcher or clinician with a bold vision for progress against pandemic threats. Applications are open through June 15 for the $200,000 prize. Read more.
Charting an Equity-Centered Public Health Data System.
Building a public health data system rooted in health equity is key to building a Culture of Health, where everyone has a fair and just opportunity to live a long and healthy life. This special publication, Charting an Equity-Centered Public Health Data System, highlights what can be done to create a modern public health data system that advances equity. Read more.
OMRF’s Montgomery to lead Center for Biomedical Data Sciences.
The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation has named Courtney Montgomery, Ph.D., as the founding director of its Center for Biomedical Data Sciences. “Data science plays an enormous role in biomedical research,” she said. “A single experiment can generate enough data to fill 75 laptops. Our scientists need extensive computing resources and skilled mathematicians and computer scientists to make discoveries from that much information.” Read more. Image: The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
Also at OMRF, EVP Dr. Judith James selected for induction to Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
OMRF Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Judith James, M.D., Ph.D., has been named a member of the 2023 class of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Considered among the highest honors in the state, James is the first woman from OMRF and just the third scientist in the foundation’s 76-year history to be selected for induction into the hall of fame. OMRF is a member of our Council of Academic Institutions. Read more. Image: OMRF.
Science & SciLifeLab Prize for Young Scientists.
Recent PhD? Boost your career by applying to the Science and SciLifeLab’s Prize for young scientists, an annual prize awarded to early-career scientists, this year celebrating its 10th anniversary. As a winner, you will have your essay published by Science, receive up to 30,000 USD and be invited to Sweden where you receive your award, present your research and meet with leading scientists in your field. Read more.
Baszucki Group Partners with Stony Brook University on Neuroblox Platform to Revolutionize Treatments for Brain Disorders.
Stony Brook University announced a philanthropic gift to develop Neuroblox, a software platform developed by biomedical engineer and neuroscientist Lilianne “Lily” Mujica-Parodi that will model brain circuits to treat brain disorders. The gift was made possible by David Baszucki, founder and chief executive officer of Roblox, and his wife, bestselling author Jan Ellison Baszucki. Read more. Image: Lilianne R. Mujica-Parodi, Stony Brook University.
Dr. Edna Adan Ismail Receives 2023 Templeton Prize.
The winner of the 2023 Templeton Prize is Dr. Edna Adan Ismail, a nurse-midwife, hospital founder, and healthcare advocate who has worked courageously to change cultural, religious, and medical norms surrounding women’s health in East Africa, improving the lives of thousands of women and girls in the region and beyond. Read more. Image: 2023 Templeton Prize Winner Edna Adan Ismail photographed in London by Tim Cole for the Templeton Prize.
Bernadine Strik, Whose Insights Helped Blueberries Thrive, Dies at 60.
Bernadine Strik, a horticulture professor at Oregon State University whose innovative cultivation strategies shook up the American blueberry industry, died on April 14 at a hospital in Corvallis, Ore. She was 60. Dr. Strik helped organic growers maximize their yields by planting on raised beds instead of flat ground, a technique that also benefited conventional farms. She persuaded many berry producers, in Oregon and beyond, to accept her research and adopt her measures, writes Daniel E. Slotnik for The New York Times. Read more.
The Female Turn: How Evolutionary Science Shifted Perceptions About Females.
Evolutionary biology has historically rendered female animals as passive recipients of sexual selection, but that view has shifted as researchers have begun to focus more on female anatomy and behavior. This week on the Science podcast, Malin Ah-King describes how new research is revealing the active sexual strategies used by females across the animal kingdom. Read more.
Women (probably) make for better astronauts. So should the first crew to Mars be all-female?
A recent study by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) medical team concluded that “there may be a number of operational advantages to all-female crews [for future long-duration missions]”. But as Angela Saini, a journalist and author who has researched the impacts of sex-based research says: “There is actually no real-life 'default' male – every man is different from the next, just like every woman is. "While it's great that women have been studied, the more important takeaway is that individual astronauts should obviously be considered.” Read more.
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Nilda Rivera, Partnership and Events Manager
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