RFS Briefings - August 31, 2019

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

RFS is pleased to announce that the winner of the Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership in Industrial Biotechnology – sponsored by RFS and presented each year at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Agtech – was Reshma Shetty, PhD, a co-founder of the synthetic biology company Ginkgo Bioworks and a trailblazer in the field of synthetic biology.

Of note in particular, see details below for the call for applications for the Sartorius & Science Prize for Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapy.

And, of course, registration is now open for the RFS Board Meeting & Colloquium in November in Philadelphia at the Wistar Institute.

RFS Briefings - July 25, 2019

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

Of note in particular:

Happy Birthday, Rosalind Franklin

Today, July 25, we celebrate the birthday of Rosalind Elsie Franklin (July 25, 1920 – April 16, 1958) and take great pride in the Rosalind Franklin Society founded in her honor in 2008 by Mary Ann Liebert, president and founder of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The Society honors the achievements of Rosalind Franklin, 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. The powerful symbolism of her remarkable story drives the Society’s agenda. For more about Franklin’s career, see The Rosalind Franklin Papers.

Recognition is also bestowed this week as the Wellcome Trust in London names one of its Board rooms after her.

2020 Lurie Prize on Biomedical Sciences

The Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences has announced a Call for Nominations for the 2020 Prize, with a deadline of September 12, 2019. The Prize, which recognizes outstanding achievement by a young scientist in biomedical research, will be presented at the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) Award Ceremony on May 20, in Washington, DC. The Prize is made available by a generous gift to FNIH by philanthropist Ann Lurie. Read more.

RFS Briefings - June 28, 2019

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

Of note in particular:

Time to End the Manel Tradition

In keeping with the findings of a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, “Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequence in Academic Science, Engineering, and Medicine,” Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, NIH Director, declares that “’it is time to end the tradition in science of all-male speaking panels, sometimes dryly referred to as ‘manels.’” Read more.

Rosalind Franklin Award Winner Announced

Reshma Shetty, founder, president and chief operating officer of Ginkgo Bioworks, will receive the Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership in Industrial Biotechnology and Agriculture on July 10, 2019 at the BIO World Congress in Des Moines, Iowa. The award, now in its sixth year, is sponsored by the Rosalind Franklin Society. Dr. Shetty is being recognized for her many contributions to the important goal of using industrial biotech innovation to develop sustainable biobased value chains.  Read more.

RFS Briefings - May 28, 2019

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

Of note in particular:

World Science Festival: Awaken Your Inner Genius
This year’s event will take place from May 22 through June 2.

The World Science Festival, a production of the World Science Foundation, a nonprofit organization headquartered in New York City, was launched in 2008. Gathering great minds in science and the arts to produce live and digital content, the Festival allows a broad general audience to engage with scientific discoveries. Of note, the program will include “Women in Science: Lab Tours for Girls” on June 1 at the NYU Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, including introductory talks, “for the next generation of scientific genius – girls.” The annual live, week-long Festivals have collectively drawn over 2.9 million visitors worldwide, with millions more viewing the programs online.