(the new!) RFS Briefings - August 19 2020

Dear Colleagues, 

I am pleased to include another issue of RFS Briefings with some timely and encouraging updates on women in science. 

In particular, we want to highlight the launch of President Rita Colwell’s new book, “A Lab of One’s Own,” and the exclusive first interview with her upon its release earlier this month. 

RFS Briefings - August 4, 2020

Dear Colleagues, 

I am pleased to include another issue of RFS Briefings with some timely and encouraging updates on women in science. 

We want to take this opportunity to again mark the centenary birthday of Rosalind Franklin (July 25, 1920-April 16, 1958), the chemist and X-ray crystallographer, whose contribution to the most significant biological discovery of the 20th century – the structure of DNA – was not recognized during her lifetime. We hope you had a chance to read our special issue commemorating the birthday of this remarkable scientist who inspired the Rosalind Franklin Society founded in 2008.

Of note, please see the compelling article about her that goes well beyond her work related to DNA. Read more.

Special RFS Briefing - Rosalind Franklin's Birthday, July 25th 2020

I am pleased to include this special issue of RFS Briefings commemorating Rosalind Franklin’s 100^th Birthday!

The Rosalind Franklin Society was founded in 2008 to honor the achievements of Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958), a British x-ray crystallographer whose extraordinary work, though largely overlooked and under-appreciated at the time, was crucial to the discovery of DNA’s structure by James Watson and Francis Crick.            

When the discovery was recognized by the Nobel Committee in 1962, the winners of the Nobel Prize – Watson and Crick – did not include Franklin, who had died in 1958 at the age of 37. Only recently has Franklin received some of the recognition that she deserves for her essential contribution to one of the biggest discoveries of the past century.           

The powerful symbolism of her remarkable story drives the Society’s agenda to recognize and celebrate the contributions of outstanding women in the life sciences and affiliated disciplines, promote broadened opportunities for women in the sciences, and through its many activities motivate new generations of women to this calling.

RFS Briefings - July 8, 2020

Dear Colleagues, 

I am pleased to include another issue of RFS Briefings with some timely and encouraging updates on women in science.   

Of note, three events are highlighted here:

• Rockefeller University is presenting a webinar series, hosted by President Richard P. Lifton, MD, PhD, in which the University’s ongoing COVID-19 research is explored and discussed by its pioneering scientists. On May 14, 2020, physician-scientist Marina Caskey focused on “Antibody Therapeutics and Pathways to Prevention,” drawing her studies of HIV and other infectious diseases. Watch here.
• The Virtual Public Summit of The National Academies’ Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education will be presented on October 19-20, 2020, hosted by the University of Wisconsin. The deadline for submitting abstracts has been extended to July 21, 2020. Additional information about registration and the agenda will be made available in September 2020. Read more.
• The 2020 Genome Writers Guild Conference “Genome Engineering Future – Now Therapies,” will be presented on July 23-25 as a free, live, virtual event. RFS will present the inaugural Rosalind Franklin Society Medal, which this year will mark Rosalind Franklin’s 100^th birthday on July 25. Read more. 

In addition, we hope you saw our recent special issue, “Black Scientists Matter!”