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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.
Our annual meeting is almost here!
We are in the process of taping an impressive agenda that will showcase amazing leaders who you may not have heard from! We will again present an impressive panel of prestigious leaders in science, and a panel to highlight the unique path of scientists From PhD to CEO. As in the past, you will also want to hear first-hand from major new appointments in the Federal government and university leadership.
These productions will be shared through broadcast on January 25th & 26th, 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (EST).
A link for registration will be posted soon. We know you will want to hear these presentations from prestigious scholars, industry, and government leaders, and a not-to-be-missed update on AI.
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
Monica Bertagnolli, M.D., takes the helm at NIH.
Monica M. Bertagnolli, M.D., started this week as the 17th director of the National Institutes of Health, the United States’ biomedical research agency and largest public funder of biomedical research in the world. She is the first surgeon and the second woman to hold the position. Read more. In case you missed it, here is her RFS presentation from last year! (Image: NIH Director Monica M. Bertagnolli, M.D. Credit: NIH)
“My path to heading a biotech company.”
Neuroscientist and biochemist Shadi Farhangrazi is the chief executive of S. M. Discovery Group (SMDG), a biotechnology company based in Durham, UK. In this article for Nature, Farhangrazi describes her transition from academia, which included two postdocs after completing her PhD in protein-design biochemistry at Utah State University in Logan. Read more. Shadi Farhangrazi. Credit: Marianne Brickner/Nature.
‘We need more women,’ says only female winner of Millennium Technology prize.
We’d love to see more diversity in the winners of these prizes because we know that diverse people contribute to technology,” Frances Arnold, an American chemical engineer, told the Observer. “It’s important to remember that these prizes are often recognising work that was started 20, maybe even 30 years ago, when women were not as numerous in the technology community as they are today,” she said. “So my prediction is that there will be more nominations for women because marvellous women are joining the technology community. Read more. (Image: Frances Arnold at Caltech in 2021 by Christopher Michel, Source: Wikipedia)
The U.S.’s First Black Female Physician Cared for Patients from Cradle to Grave.
In this episode of Lost Women of Science, hear the story of Rebecca Lee Crumpler, who became the first Black woman in the U.S. to receive an M.D., earned while the Civil War raged, and the first Black person in the country to write a medical book, a popular guide with a preventive approach. Read more.
How Oxygen-intolerant Microbes Navigate an Oxygen-filled World.
In this webinar on November 29, Lindsey Backman, Valhalla Fellow at Whitehead Institute, will discuss her lab’s mission to determine molecular tactics that enable bacteria to cope with varying levels of oxygen and oxidative stress. Read more.
How Susan La Flesche Picotte became the 1st Native American medical doctor.
November is Native American Heritage Month, a celebration of the traditions and languages of Indigenous communities in the United States. For PBS’ “Hidden Histories” series, they look at the story of Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte, the first Native American to earn a medical degree. At a time when women were considered ill-suited to be physicians, she enrolled at Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, the nation's first medical school for women.Read more. (Image: Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte, The National Library of Medicine/Wikipedia.)
Clinical Microbiomics A/S and CosmosID Inc. have merged to create a formidable force in the field of microbiome science.
CosmosID was founded in 2008 by world-renowned microbiologist, Professor Dr. Rita Colwell, President of RFS. The purpose of the new company is to help scientists worldwide understand how the microbiome influences health and well-being– from humans and animals to plants and the environment. Read more.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation receives UN Champions of the Earth award.
“Momentum is building to tackle plastic waste and pollution. Over the past five years, leading businesses – through the Global Commitment – have shown it is possible to make progress, and more and more governments around the world are taking action. (...) My thanks to the United Nations Environment Programme for recognising the importance of the Foundation’s work in this global effort to stop the flow of plastic pollution,” said Dame Ellen MacArthur, Founder and Chair of Trustees, Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Read more.
CEO Deborah Bronk announces major expansion of BigelowLab in Boothbay, Maine, with support from two key women leaders in the state: Governor Janet Mills and Senator Susan Collins.
“When it comes to understanding the ocean and climate change, it’s all about the microbes,” said Bigelow Laboratory President and CEO Deborah Bronk. “They will determine how the ocean responds to a changing climate, and they are our greatest tool for trying to address the damage that’s been done to the ocean. That future is what this new center is all about.” Read more.(Image:Deborah Bronk, Bigelow Lab)
Congratulations to Ethiopian-born scientist Gebisa Ejeta on receiving the National Medal of Science, the highest recognition the United States awards to scientists.
Dr. Ejeta is acclaimed as one of the world's leading plant geneticists. He specializes in the study of sorghum, a popular source of food in Africa. In 2009, Dr. Ejeta won the prestigious World Food Prize for developing a sorghum hybrid that is resistant to both drought and the parasitic weed Striga, which commonly invades farms in Africa. Read more.(Image: Dr. Gebisa Ejeta, Purdue University)
Gulf Research Program Awards $22 Million to Launch New ‘Mississippi River Delta Transition Initiative’ Consortium.
“Multiple natural and human-made factors are driving major changes to the Mississippi Delta, and how these play out will have profound implications for the Gulf and the nation,” said Lauren Alexander Augustine, executive director of the Gulf Research Program. “The MissDelta project takes advantage of the wealth of expertise in the region and mobilizes multiple institutions to provide the foundation for forward-looking, science-based management of this incredibly important natural resource for the benefit of Gulf residents.” 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.
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
Microbiologist Bonnie Bassler, an RFS Board Member, has been awarded the 2023 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research.
Bonnie Bassler shares the prize with Jeffrey I. Gordon of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and Dennis L. Kasper of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The award recognized the three as “scientists whose research has advanced the study and understanding of microbiomes and bacteria and how they communicate in the body and cause or prevent disease.” Read more. (Image: Bonnie Bassler. Credit: Alena Soboleva.)
To encourage more scientists to translate their research, BioInnovation Institute (BII) and Science award the BII & Science Prize for Innovation.
Apply today for the BioInnovation Institute and Science Prize for Innovation! The editors of Science seek to recognize bold researchers who are asking fundamental questions at the intersection of the life sciences and entrepreneurship. Read more.
Two Northwell leaders named to the National Academy of Medicine.
The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has elected Karina Davidson, PhD, Northwell Health’s senior vice president of research! Northwell Health is a member of Rosalind Franklin Society’s Council of Academic Institutions. (Image: Dr. Karina Davidson, left, and Dr. Said Ibrahim, right, were recently elected to the National Academy of Medicine. Credit: Northwell Health.) Read more.
A New Book Reveals the Hardships and Systemic Biases Many Women in STEM Still Face.
In her new book — Women in Science Now: Stories and Strategies for Achieving Equity (Columbia University Press, 2023) — Lisa M. P. Munoz shines a spotlight on the experiences of more than a dozen researchers across fields like paleontology, genetics, and psychology who’ve encountered gendered and racial biases, how it influenced their careers, and what we currently know about discrimination across the sciences. Read more.
Women in the Workplace is the largest comprehensive study of the state of women in corporate America.
According to the Women in the Workplace 2023 report that was released by McKinsey and LeanIn.org, women are more ambitious than ever, and workplace flexibility is fueling them. Read more.
18 Remarkable Women in STEM Who Changed the World.
In this document, Abakcus explores the inspiring stories of 18 such women who, through their relentless pursuit of knowledge and innovation, have indelibly changed the world. These women, through their exceptional accomplishments, have not only left an indelible mark on their respective fields but also continue to inspire future generations of women in STEM. Read more.
ASME Foundation Announces Sonya Smith as New Board Chair and Welcomes Karen Ohland to Board.
Sonya Smith is the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Virginia Smith. “We are so fortunate that Dr. Smith will offer her extraordinary insights and leadership in the role of board chair,” said Stephanie Viola, executive director of the ASME Foundation and managing director, ASME Philanthropy. Read more. (Image: Sonya Smith, ASME.)
Women leaders at six top research universities urge more diversity in semiconductor workforce.
A new academic consortium is aimed at increasing diversity in microelectronics being launched by the women presidents and engineering deans at six prominent universities. “This is personal for us,” say the founders of the Education group for Diversification and Growth in Engineering (EDGE) Consortium. Read more.
$1 Million Berggruen Philosophy Prize Awarded to Patricia Hill Collins.
Patricia Hill Collins, a distinguished sociologist whose authorship of Black Feminist Thought (1990) helped kickstart the rise of intersectionality as a force in politics and society, has won the 2023 Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture. Read more. (Image: Patricia Hill Collins, Berggruen Institute.)
Women across Iceland, including the prime minister, go on strike for equal pay and no more violence.
Schools, shops, banks and Iceland’s famous swimming pools shut on Tuesday, October 24, as women in Iceland — including the prime minister — went on strike to push for an end to unequal pay and gender-based violence. Read more.
ARPA-H advances initiative to improve clinical trials.
"Clinical trials are essential to evaluating potentially life-saving breakthroughs and getting them to patients, including in times of rapid response, such as during national emergencies," said ARPA-H Director Renee Wegrzyn, Ph.D. "The Advancing Clinical Trial Readiness initiative activates the ARPANET-H health innovation network as we work with organizations from across the country to advance technologies and insights to create a robust national clinical trial infrastructure." Read more. ARPA-H Director Renee Wegrzyn, Ph.D. recently spoke at our RFS event, you can watch the event here. (Image: Renee Wegrzyn, Ph.D., ARPA-H)
'Not of faculty quality': How Penn mistreated Nobel Prize-winning researcher Katalin Karikó.
Eight current and former colleagues of Katalin Karikó told The Daily Pennsylvanian that — over the course of three decades — the University repeatedly shunned Karikó and her research, despite its groundbreaking potential. Katalin Karikó, an adjunct professor of neurosurgery at the Perelman School of Medicine, won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for her past research into mRNA technology. Read more.
Lyda Hill Philanthropies is investing in storytelling, such as the CBS series "Mission Unstoppable," to interest girls in STEM careers.
“We’re looking to create a culture shift in how girls see themselves in the world,” says Nicole Small, CEO and president of Lyda Hill Philanthropies. “Whether or not viewers pursue a career in STEM, we hope that they see themselves as meaningful contributors to change in the world and understand how important science is to the world around them. Lyda Hill has also been an important funder of RFS and specifically for the Annual RFS Awards in Science. ” Read more.
Toxic workplaces are the main reason women leave academic jobs.
Women with tenure-track and tenured academic posts are more likely to leave than are their male counterparts. It’s “surprising and sort-of depressing” that even after achieving tenure, women are at increased risk of leaving academia, says sociologist Kimberlee Shauman at the University of California, Davis. Read more.
Behind Nina Tandon — The Big Apple and the Biotech Founder.
Nina Tandon has been running her startup Epibone, for over a decade, with the mission to grow bone and cartilage for skeletal reconstruction — an endeavor that presents commercialization opportunities in the medical field. Read more.
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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.
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
The lifesaving, Nobel Prize-winning discovery that almost didn't happen.
Katalin Karikó won a Nobel Prize this year with her colleague Drew Weissman for her groundbreaking work on mRNA vaccines — but she had to fight against professional science to do it. Karikó was hired by the University of Pennsylvania in 1989 in a role that put her on track to become a full tenured professor. See her recent interview with GEN and RFS about her challenges, and struggles to get grant funding for her work on mRNA. Read more. (Image: Katalin Karikó, PhD. Photo Credit: Peggy Peterson Photography for Penn Medicine)
National Academy of Medicine elects 100 new members—and nearly 40% are women.
The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) announced the election of 90 regular members and 10 international members during its annual meeting. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. Read more.
Are Grandmothers the Key to Solving the Global Mental Health Crisis?
McNulty Prize winner Dixon Chibanda is the founder of Friendship Bench, which is training thousands of “grandmothers” (having grandchildren is not a literal requirement) to be community health workers, with training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Read more.
Lloyd's Register Foundation Backs Sea Shepherd Global’s Initiative for African Female Seafarers.
Sea Shepherd Global has received a grant from Lloyd's Register Foundation to develop and expand their program sponsoring female maritime cadets from Africa onboard their ships. Read more.
Call for Nominations: The Impact of Burnout on Gender Equity in Science, Engineering, and Medicine.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is seeking nominations for a planning committee to hold a hybrid workshop examining the impact of burnout on gender equity in science, engineering, and medicine. Read more.
Why women earn less than men: Nobel for Economic Science historian who probed pay gap.
Claudia Goldin, an historian who identified the driving forces behind women’s unequal participation in the workforce, has won this year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Read more.
In Memoriam: Carol Clancey Harter, 1941-2023.
Carol Harter, the longest-serving president of the University of Nevada Las Vegas, died on September 14. She was 82 years old. A native of Brooklyn, New York, she enrolled at what is now Binghamton University of the State University of New York with a desire to major in chemistry. Read more.
In Memoriam: Sheila Susan Moriber Katz, 1943-2023.
Sheila Moriber Katz, former dean of Hahnemann University School of Medicine in Philadelphia who discovered the bacteria that causes Legionnaire’s disease, died at her home in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, on September 10. She was 80 years old and had suffered from Parkinson’s disease. Read more.
Biophysics Society Recognizes the Research of Vanderbilt University’s Nancy Carrasco.
Nancy Carrasco, Joe C. Davis Chair in Biomedical Science and chair of the department of molecular physiology and biophysics at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, has been selected to receive the 2024 Award for the Biophysics of Health and Disease from the Biophysics Society. Read more. (Image: Nancy Carrasco, Vanderbilt University)
Berenecea Johnson Eanes Will Be the First Woman President of California State University, Los Angeles.
When she takes office in January, Dr. Eanes will be the ninth president of the university and the first woman to hold the post. Since 2020, Dr. Eanes has served as president of York College of the City University of New York. She served as vice president for student affairs at California State University, Fullerton from 2012 to 2019. Read more.
Women in STEM becoming independent: Great mentors make all the difference.
In this Viewpoint from the Journal of Experimental Medicine, you will hear from a cross section of women, across multiple research fields, discussing their science and the process of setting up a lab as an independent researcher. As well as being able to celebrate the positives of becoming an independent researcher, JEM would also like to use this platform to discuss the unique challenges they face as women scientists in their respective scientific environments. Read more.
Professor Janet M. Currie receives the 2023 Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize.
Professor Janet M. Currie receives the 2023 Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize for her pivotal work on the ways that factors such as policy decisions, environment, and health systems influence child development. Read more. (Image: Prof. Janet M. Currie, Princeton University.)
NSF launches TRAILBLAZER program for groundbreaking engineering ideas.
The U.S. National Science Foundation announced the NSF Trailblazer Engineering Impact Award program, a new $15-million activity in the Engineering Directorate, to enable researchers to pursue novel engineering research projects that will open unexplored frontiers.Read more.
'This doesn't just fall on women': computer scientists reflect on gender biases in STEM.
In this Nature Podcast, two computer scientists, Shobhana Narasimhan and Sana Odeh, join Nature's Anne Pichon to discuss the barriers that women and gender-diverse people still face when working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Read more.
Facing racism in science, ‘I decided to prove them wrong’
Dequina Nicholas studies how lipid immunology contributes to type 2 diabetes and polycystic ovarian syndrome, with the goal of developing immunotherapies. Recently, Nicholas sat down with Nature at the Lindau conference to discuss tackling racism in science head on and how, sometimes, burning a bridge can be an act of self-preservation. Read more. (Image: Dequina Nicholas, University of California, Irvine.)
Women in Enterprising Science Fellows Receive $2 million in Seed Funding.
Two Fellows from the inaugural cohort in the HS Chau Women in Enterprising Science (WIES) Program at the Innovative Genomics Institute were selected to move onto the second phase of the program, each receiving an award of $1 million in non-dilutive seed funding to support their entrepreneurial pursuits. Watch her GEN/RFS interview here. Read more.(Image: Jennifer Doudna with Navneet Matharu in the Women in Enterprising Science lab facility at the IGI in Berkeley. Photo: Glenn Ramit, IGI.)
Why the ‘Mother of the Atomic Bomb’ Never Won a Nobel Prize.
Lise Meitner developed the theory of nuclear fission, the process that enabled the atomic bomb. But her identity — Jewish and a woman — barred her from sharing credit for the discovery, newly translated letters show. Read more.
When the Portal to Space Travel Opened, ‘The Six’ Stepped Through.
It’s difficult to imagine a place more coded as masculine than the cockpit of a rocket ship. From the first pages of “The Six: The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts,” the science journalist Loren Grush reclaims this place as female. Read more.
Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers announces a new Editor-in-Chief.
Jane Gibson, Ph.D., will be the new Editor-in-Chief for Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers. Jane Gibson is a medical geneticist and molecular pathologist who uses genomic technology to improve patient diagnostics and treatment. 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. Of particular note, we hope you were able to view The State of Biotech 2023 last week. If you missed any of it you can view it here.
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
Doris Duke Foundation Honors 21 Physician Scientists, 14 Women, Advancing Insights for Improved Human Health.
In 2023, the Doris Duke Foundation is celebrating 25 years of supporting physician scientists so they have the time and resources to develop groundbreaking ideas. This year’s grantees join a network of accomplished physicians who have gone on to become leaders in academia, medicine, public health and government. Read more.
womenmind™: A community of philanthropists committed to closing the gender gap in mental health.
Congrats to the 2023 womenmind Leadership Fund Awardees, Drs. Erica Vieira and Gwyneth Zai. The Leadership Fund provides support to attend leadership training to break down gender gaps + support career progression for women in science. Read more.
Women in Science at the APS.
In preparation for the American Philosophical Society exhibition Pursuit & Persistence, they asked women APS Members about their careers. Space physicist Margaret Kivelson would have reassured her younger self about the very common phenomenon of impostor syndrome. Read more.
The Skillsoft Women in Tech Report.
The Skillsoft Women in Tech Report shares the findings of an in-depth survey of women’s experiences at all stages of their careers, across geographies and industries. This report provides a clear picture of the current status of women in tech-related jobs, what’s important to them, and what they need from their employers to thrive. Read more. (Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash)
Meet The Hastings Center’s New President: Vardit Ravitsky.
The Hastings Center Board of Trustees announced that Vardit Ravitsky, PhD, a leading bioethicist whose career has focused on the ethical, legal, and social implications of emerging technologies, became president on September 1, 2023. Ravitsky is an internationally respected public scholar, a professor of bioethics at the University of Montreal, and a senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School. Read more. (Photo: Vardit Ravitsky, The Hastings Center)
Her work paved the way for blockbuster obesity drugs. Now, she’s fighting for recognition.
Svetlana Mojsov’s story raises thorny questions about the scientific enterprise, including how credit is apportioned and how award decisions are made. Several in the obesity and diabetes field express unease with her near-total absence from the narrative. But few have come forward to advocate for her place in that story. Read more.
Bucking the system: the extraordinary story of how the SDGs came to be.
The influential and ambitious United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were the brainchild of two unsung Colombian women: Paula Caballero and Patti Londoño. Halfway to the SDGs’ 2030 deadline, none of the 17 goals to end poverty and protect the environment is on track, and only 15% of the 140 targets for which data are available look likely to be met.Read more.(Image credit:Paula Caballero and Patti Londoño (CEPEI)
In Ukraine, Mathematics Offers Strength in Numbers.
Maryna Viazovska, a professor of mathematics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and a 2022 Fields medalist, gave a lecture at the opening of the International Center for Mathematics in Ukraine on Aug. 10. Read more.
Life-changing cystic fibrosis treatment wins US$3-million Breakthrough Prize.
The trio of chemists who developed the cystic fibrosis treatment Trikafta (including Sabine Hadida of Vertex Pharmaceuticals) has won one of this year’s US$3-million Breakthrough prizes — the most lucrative awards in science. Image: Paul Negulescu, Sabine Hadida and Fredrick Van Goor (left to right). Credit: Vertex Pharmaceuticals.Read more.
Putting Women at the Center of Human Evolution.
Cat Bohannon’s book, “Eve,” looks at the way women’s bodies evolved, and how a focus on male subjects in science has left women “under-studied and under-cared for.” Read more.
BII & Science Prize for Innovation
Apply today for the BioInnovation Institute and Science Prize for Innovation! The editors of Science seek to recognize bold researchers who are asking fundamental questions at the intersection of the life sciences and entrepreneurship. The Grand Prize winner will receive a prize of USD 25,000 and each runner-up will receive USD 10,000 at a grand award ceremony in Copenhagen, Denmark. Read more.
Help from an unexpected corner: a “genetic parasite” protects fertility.
Research from Whitehead Institute Member Yukiko Yamashita’s lab finds that a retrotransposon, a genetic element often thought of as a parasite, actually plays an important role in rejuvenating an important region of DNA, preserving fertility in flies. Read more. (Image: Yukiko Yamashita, Whitehead Institute.)
As a Doctor, a Mother and the Head of the C.D.C., I Recommend That You Get the Latest Covid Booster.
“As a doctor, a mother and the head of the C.D.C., I would not recommend anything to others that I wouldn’t recommend for my own family. My 9- and 11-year-old daughters, my husband, my parents and I will all be rolling up our sleeves to get our updated Covid-19 vaccines along with our flu shots soon. I hope you and the people you care about will do the same”, says Dr. Mandy K. Cohen, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read more. (Image: Mandy K. Cohen, CDC Director (Wikipedia).
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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