RFS Briefings - December 8, 2020

Dear Colleagues, 

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

We are happy to announce our end-of-year virtual meeting which will take place online over two half-days: December 16th and December 17th from 1:00pm to 5:00pm EST. The meeting “Labs, Leaders, Critical Connections” will highlight astounding accomplishments of women and minorities in science as well as significant challenges yet to be addressed. From groundbreaking research to prestigious awards and recognition, this free virtual event provides you with incredible access to emerging stars as well as those who continue to lead the way.  

Jennifer Doudna PhD, the UC Berkeley biochemist who shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Emmanuelle Charpentier PhD, was the recent guest of honor for the final episode in the “Women in Science” web series, co-organized by GEN and the Rosalind Franklin Society. Doudna discussed a broad range of topics, including how to celebrate a Nobel Prize in a pandemic, what the award means for women in science, her views on mentorship, and her decision earlier this year to launch a high-throughput COVID-19 diagnostic lab. 

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.  

With regards in these trying times,  

Karla Shepard Rubinger
Executive Director
Rosalind Franklin Society
www.rosalindfranklinsociety.org
 

News

They Made the ‘Pfizer Vaccine’. Dr. Ozlem Tureci and Dr. Ugur Sahin, the co-founders of BioNTech, are the husband-wife team who are behind the first coronavirus vaccine to be approved in the West. This week, the “Pfizer vaccine” will be available in Britain. BioNTech started working on a vaccine in January. By early November, the company shared the results of its Phase 3 trials: over 90 percent efficacy.

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey Elected as HHMI Trustee. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, MBA, University of Pennsylvania professor, and former president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), has been elected a Trustee of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the largest private biomedical research institution in the United States. Her appointment will begin on January 1, 2021.

Gwynne Shotwell, New Space editorial board member, was featured as one of Time’s collection of one of the 100 most influential people in 2020. “Gwynne Shotwell is living proof that you don’t need a space suit to be a space pioneer. Itching to build something after a decade’s work in the policy and analytical segments of the space sector, she jumped into the fledgling commercial space arena, becoming one of SpaceX’s earliest employees in 2002.”

L'Oréal Canada holds the 18th edition of the Canadian Awarding ceremony of the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science fellowships and recognizes Canada's Top Rising Stars of science. "Never has science been more vital. This challenging year has certainly put a spotlight on the importance of science and research scientists in supporting our world's wellbeing. More than ever, the world needs science and science needs women," said Frank Kollmar, President and CEO of L'Oréal Canada, in his opening remarks.

UNESCO and Foundation L’Oréal recognize 20 young women scientists in Sub-Saharan Africa. Since 2010, this joint initiative rewards twenty women scientists each year for the excellence of their work, and supports them to pursue their research through grants of €10,000 for PhD students and €15,000 for post-doctorates.

Dr. Mary Fowkes, a neuropathologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan died on November 15 at her home in Katonah, N.Y., in Westchester County. She was 66, according to the New York Times. Dr. Cordon-Cardo, chairman of the department of pathology, molecular and cell-based medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said that the findings from the autopsies of Covid-19 patients done by Dr. Fowkes’s team had led to an aggressive increase in the use of blood thinners, resulting in a marked improvement in the health of some patients.

Women in STEM

Prof Sarah Gilbert: The woman who designed the Oxford vaccine. Prof. Gilbert describes the Oxford coronavirus vaccine as “a series of small steps - rather a big breakthrough moment.” "From the beginning, we're seeing it as a race against the virus, not a race against other vaccine developers," she said earlier this year. "We're a university and we're not in this to make money."

Prof Sarah Gilbert. Image: John Cairns, University of Oxford.

'It'll upset a few fellows': Royal Society adds Jocelyn Bell Burnell portrait. Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, a British astrophysicist who made one of the most significant scientific discoveries of the 20th century, has joined the male-dominated portrait collection of the Royal Society. In 1967, she discovered a new type of star later called a pulsar, but the Nobel prize for physics in 1974 went not to her, but to her male PhD supervisor. She has since been a trailblazing promoter for women and the marginalized in science and was the first woman to be president of the Institute of Physics, according to The Guardian. 

Gitanjali Rao: Time magazine names teenage inventor its first ‘kid of the year’. A 15-year-old scientist and inventor has been named as Time magazine’s first “kid of the year”. In an interview with actor and humanitarian Angelina Jolie, Gitanjali said: “I don’t look like your typical scientist. Everything I see on TV is that it’s an older, usually white, man as a scientist.

Gitanjali Rao, Time magazine’s inaugural kid of the year, has used technology to address contaminated drinking water, opioid addiction and cyber-bullying. Photograph: Time/PA, via The Guardian.

How mRNA went from a scientific backwater to a pandemic crusher. For years, Katalin Karikó's work into mRNA therapeutics was overlooked by her colleagues. Now it's at the heart of two leading coronavirus vaccines. Karikó has been at the helm of BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine development since 2013, when she accepted an offer to become Senior Vice President at BioNTech. 

Kate Marvel: “With science plus action, things can get better.” “We can shape the future that we want.” Kate is the latest member of the Inverse Future 50, a group of 50 people who will be forces of good in the 2020s, and her message is that we can still fight off the worst of climate change. 

Asifa Akhtar is a sign of new things to come at the Max Planck Society. In July, the Pakistan-born molecular biologist became the first international woman to be named vice-president of the Max Planck Society’s Biology and Medicine Section. According to an article in Nature, a key focus for Akhtar in her new position is ensuring a more diverse cohort of young researchers sits at the forefront of German research. “I’m aware of the responsibility on my shoulders and I take it very seriously,” she says. “I want to show that there are role models who can push things forward.” 

Special Reports 2020's Fiercest Women in Life Sciences. 2020 has seen women make tremendous gains at the top, with Kamala Harris becoming the first female vice president-elect and, on the biopharma side, Reshma Kewalramani ascending to the CEO spot at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, according to Fierce Pharma.

Leena Tripathi uses CRISPR gene-editing technology to protect bananas and other staple crops across Africa against killer pathogens. For more than two decades, Leena Tripathi has been working to improve several staple food crops in Africa, including bananas, plantains, cassavas and yams. As principal scientist and a plant biotechnologist at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture in Nairobi, she aims to develop varieties that are resistant to pests and diseases such as bacterial wilt, Fusarium wilt, and banana streak virus.

Teen Vogue’s 21 Under 21, 2020: The Girls and Femmes Building a Better Future. Meet Anika Chebrolu, a 14-year old Texan and a scientist. Earlier this year, she won the 3M Young Scientist Challenge for creating a possible cure for COVID-19. "To all other young girls who want to make a difference, I hope you all understand how important you are to this world! Do not let society’s standards hold you back from reaching your full potential,” she says.

STEM superstars call for more gender and cultural diversity. Associate Professor Kim-Anh Le Cao, astrophysicist Clare Kenyon, Dr. Kylie Soanes, Dr. Maria del Mar Quiroga and Priyanka Pillai have been named Australia's official Superstars of STEM by Science and Technology Australia. "My mission is to get people excited about urban nature," said conservationist biologist Kylie Soanes. "I have always loved sharing stories about science and nature with people. My research has enormous potential to engage broad audiences in science and nature conservation and I'm willing to step up and advocate for issues that are important."

UWA scientists named among Australia's superstars of STEM. A biotechnologist from The University of Western Australia who maps genomes of threatened animals to support Australian biodiversity and conservation has been named a superstar of STEM by Science & Technology Australia.

Ideas

According to the article “Women Physicians and Promotion in Academic Medicine,” over a 35-year period, women physicians in academic medical centers were less likely than men to be promoted to the rank of associate or full professor or to be appointed to department chair, and there was no apparent narrowing in the gap over time.

The Curie Society aims to broaden perceptions of STEM female protagonists. “The Curie Society is a teen spy thriller centred around a team of brilliant women scientists. Our base mythology envisions a society founded by Marie Curie with her Nobel Prize winnings, with a mission of supporting the most brilliant female minds in the world. But due to the politics of her time, she kept the society underground so it couldn’t be corrupted by the same scientific patriarchy that she constantly had to deal with. In the modern day, the society has grown to have secret chapters at universities all over the world, and its members are always on the lookout for the best and brightest students to join their ranks,” says Heather Einhorn, founder of Einhorn Epic Productions.

The researcher fighting to embed analysis of sex and gender into science. Accounting for sex and gender differences should be mandatory in all research areas. "It's not about women — it’s about getting the research right," says Londa Schiebinger. Recalled drugs, unsafe products and even environmental chaos are just some of the consequences of research that doesn’t consider sex and gender, she says.

Perceptions of stereotypes applied to women who publicly communicate their STEM work. According to a study, systematic cultural and institutional change is needed in STEM fields to address the underlying bias and negative stereotypes facing women. However, it should be ensured that the intended solutions to facilitate this change are not compounding the problem.

The stress of being a young, female scientific expert during Covid-19.“It is hard enough to be on the public stage trying to explain your complicated scientific expertise to the general public when some of them don’t even believe the information, but is an added burden when you are a woman and that comes with death threats and harassment.” 

 

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Marianna Limas, Social Media Manager 
Nilda Rivera, Partnership and Events Manager

RFS Briefings - November 25, 2020

Dear Colleagues, 

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

We are happy to announce our end-of-year virtual meeting which will take place online over two half-days: December 16th and December 17th from 1:00pm to 5:00pm EST. The meeting “Labs, Leaders, Critical Connections” will highlight astounding accomplishments of women and minorities in science as well as significant challenges yet to be addressed. From groundbreaking research to prestigious awards and recognition, this free virtual event provides you with incredible access to emerging stars as well as those who continue to lead the way.

 

Sessions will cover the academic world as well as industry; corporations and start-ups; and U.S. and international colleagues and partnerships. Thank you to Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), and Onramp Bioinformatics, Inc. for supporting our meeting! Register here.

In case you missed our conversation with special guest Nobel Prize Laureate Jennifer Doudna, you can watch it now! CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna, PhD (University of California, Berkeley/HHMI) was recently awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Emmanuelle Charpentier, PhD,  a microbiologist at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin. Doudna has embraced her leadership role, spearheading vital discussions about the ethics of hereditary genome editing, championing the value of basic academic research, and serving as an inspirational role model for women in science.

Congratulations to Rita Colwell for receiving the American Geophysical Union’s 2020 William Bowie Medal! The award recognizes outstanding contributions to fundamental Earth and space science and cooperation in research. An online celebration will formally recognize Dr. Colwell during the AGU 2020 Fall Meeting (Wednesday, December 9, at 6 pm ET)

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.  

With regards in these trying times,  

Karla Shepard Rubinger
Executive Director
Rosalind Franklin Society
www.rosalindfranklinsociety.org

News

Nature Communications looking into paper on mentorship after strong negative reaction. A Nature journal has announced that it is conducting a “priority” investigation into a new paper claiming that women in science fare better with male rather than female mentors. The article, “The association between early career informal mentorship in academic collaborations and junior author performance,” appeared in Nature Communications on November 17. According to Retraction Watch, the paper drew immediate flak on Twitter, where commenters like Joshua Miller, of the University of Alberta, expressed a mix of anger and disappointment at the research and the journal. Check out the coverage by Science Magazine: After scalding critiques of study on gender and mentorship, journal says it is reviewing the work.

L'Oréal USA announces 2020 For Women In Science Fellows. “The annual program awards five female postdoctoral scientists grants of $60,000 each to advance their research. Now in its 17th year, the For Women in Science program has recognized 85 postdoctoral female scientists and contributed over $4 million to the advancement of critical research in fields as diverse as neurobiology, metabolic diseases, physics and material science, integrative biology, and biomedical engineering.”

Congratulations to Wendy Brown, Silvania da Silva Teixeira, Nancy Padilla-Coreano, Kayla Nguyen, and Cara Brook. Courtesy of L’Oréal USA.

Congratulations to the winner of the James Dyson Award! The Blue Box, invented by Judit Giro Benet from Tarragona, Spain, is an at-home, biomedical breast cancer testing device that uses a urine sample and an AI algorithm to detect early signs of breast cancer. “The Blue Box endeavours to change the way society fights breast cancer and to give all women in the world the chance to avoid an advanced diagnosis, making screening a part of our daily lives,” said Judit Giro Benet.

Judit Giro Benet. Image: The James Dyson Foundation.

Engineer who designs gels to mimic human tissues wins Canada's top science prize. Molly Shoichet, professor of chemical engineering and applied chemistry and Canada Research Chair in Tissue Engineering at the University of Toronto, is developing new materials that mimic human tissues. Her collaborations with biologists have led to applications to treat degenerative blindness, cancer, and stroke. She has won this year's $1 million Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal, the country's top science prize.

Molly Shoichet. Image: Sylvie Li/NSERC/CRSNG

The ‘Prussian Turk’ couple’s company BioNTech developed the breakthrough Covid vaccine with Pfizer: Meet Uğur Şahin, CEO of BioNTech, and Özlem Türeci, BioNTech’s chief medical officer, who founded BioNTech in 2008 with the Austrian oncologist Christoph Huber. Both scientists are the children of Turkish migrants who moved to Germany in the late 1960s. They are the “dream team” scientist couple who came up with a big idea that could protect humanity from a virus that has killed more than a million people, writes Philip Oltermann in an article for The Guardian.

The 1st Black female brigade commander at Naval Academy: 'I have the heart to do it' Midshipman 1st Class Sydney Barber of Lake Forest, Ill., is slated to be the U.S. Naval Academy's first African American female brigade commander. It's the highest student leadership position at the academy.

Cathy Foley appointed Australia's next chief scientist. The physicist, who has been with CSIRO for 36 years, is the second woman appointed to the role. Foley, whose work has focused on the physics behind superconductors, is an outspoken advocate of attracting more women to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

Medical statistician wins prestigious award to celebrate women in STEM. Congratulations to Rhian Daniel from Cardiff University who has been chosen to receive a prestigious award celebrating the achievements of women working in STEM. The Suffrage Science Awards is in its third year and is curated by the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences. Professor Dame Amanda Fisher, institute director, said the purpose of the awards was to “celebrate women scientists, their scientific achievements and ability to inspire others”.

In the UK, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Diversity and Inclusion in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) launched its new inquiry into Equity in the UK STEM workforce. The inquiry will examine how the Government and organizations employing STEM workers are helping to create a diverse and inclusive environment.

Opportunities

The Vilcek Foundation and The Arnold P. Gold Foundation will award a $10,000 prize to an outstanding immigrant professional in public health. Learn more and nominate a foreign-born healthcare worker today! Nominators may submit any foreign-born person living and working in the United States whose work in healthcare, medicine, or public health advocacy has demonstrated extraordinary humanism.

Now open for submissions: Apply today for the 2021 Science & PINS Prize for Neuromodulation. The Science & PINS Prize for Neuromodulation is awarded for innovative research that modulates neural activity through physical (electrical, magnetic, optical) stimulation of targeted sites in the nervous system with implications for translational medicine. Established in 2016, the prize is awarded annually for outstanding research as described in a 1,500 word essay based on research performed in the past three years.

Make a difference. Join the NIH Office of the Director, Scientific Workforce Diversity Office! This position will support efforts related to the COVID-19 public health emergency. As a Supervisory Social Science Analyst (COVID-19), your duties will include planning, developing, and implementing targeted workforce diversity research programs.

P&G’s Royal Oils and Gold Series announce ongoing commitment to support Black Women in STEM. Together with CVS this fall, P&G will award $200,000 in scholarships to Black women pursuing a degree in STEM subjects at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and UNCF member schools, facilitated through long-time higher education partner UNCF (United Negro College Fund).

Women in STEM

This scientist buoys a small firm’s quest to make a top-notch COVID-19 vaccine. Nita Patel, a senior director in the vaccine development department at Novavax, often works 18-hour days in the lab, and says, “People ask me if I’m tired, I don’t feel tired.” Watch this video to learn how she has supported the development of a potential vaccine in just 10 months.

Teresa Lambe is working with AstraZeneca to give the world a shot against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. “I’m fascinated with T cells as well as antibodies. T cells don’t prevent infections, but they do seek out and destroy infected cells. If we could develop a vaccine that triggers both T cells and antibodies, we’d have a double whammy that could provide strong protection against SARS-CoV-2,” she wrote in an article for Nature. 

Teresa ‘Tess’ Lambe is a vaccine investigator at the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute, UK.

Credit: John Cairns/University of Oxford

Radioactive: new Marie Curie biopic inspires, but resonates uneasily for women in science Radioactive, Jack Thorne’s screenplay adaptation of Lauren Redniss’ graphic novel, attempts to portray the drive and dedication Curie must have possessed to achieve her career success. “Radioactive reinforces what some women in male dominated STEM fields might still encounter today: women can be perceived as competent or likeable, but not both,” according to Merryn McKinnon, Senior lecturer at the Australian National University. 

How a communist physics teacher flattened the COVID-19 curve in southern India. In India, a former teacher who wasn't trained as a scientist devised the strategy to keep COVID-19 in check in the state of Kerala, with a mortality rate among the lowest in the world. “Until we get a vaccine, all of us will have to sacrifice some pleasures in our lives,” said K. K. Shailaja, health minister of India’s Kerala state, in an article for Science Magazine.

Undergraduate researcher Natalie Lo takes on cancer biology. Natalie Lo is one of 4 Stony Brook undergraduates to receive the Sass Foundation-Arena Scholars award recognizing research potential in URECA Summer applicants working in the field of cancer biology.

Ignite her curiosity: 60 children's books to inspire science-loving Mighty Girls. One great way to encourage a child's interest in science is by showing them role models of kids — particularly girls — in STEM fields. “In fictional stories, they can see faces that match their own: kids who are turning their ingenious minds to investigating questions and solving problems using the scientific method,” writes Katherine Handcock.

“Opening up about my invisible health condition:” Anne Charmantier reveals how she has learnt to be vulnerable and to share her experience of her chronic health problem with research colleagues and collaborators. “I now feel more secure and empowered, and I realize that my chronic condition has, in fact, been an important asset in my life, both personally and professionally. My condition has spurred me to accomplish as much as I can. It has fuelled my will and my enthusiasm to do research, and increased my empathy and kindness towards colleagues and students who are facing challenging times,” writes Charmantier in an article for Nature.

AAAS IF/THEN ambassadors inspire girls to pursue STEM. AAAS IF/THEN Ambassadors are women innovators who serve as role models and inspire girls to pursue STEM careers. This month, the ambassadors received “reverse mentoring,” learning from middle and high school girls how to engage their audience on TikTok.

Searching symbols for the rules of change. Bryna Kra, a mathematician at Northwestern University, uses a modeling method called symbolic dynamics to hunt for patterns in complex systems like planets arcing through space or billiard balls bouncing around a table.

Ideas

New York University physician and epidemiologist Céline Gounder has straddled the worlds of medicine, government, and the media. She is now one of 13 people President-elect Joe Biden has named to a high-profile task force to help steer his response to the coronavirus pandemic. “Scientists and doctors and public health experts need to be front and center at press conferences, at daily briefings. Not political officials. Because by definition, once you have a political official communicating this it becomes politicized. It really doesn’t matter whether it’s a Republican or a Democrat, it is politicized,” said Gounder in an interview for Science Magazine. 

What is it like to be a black woman scientist? Do they feel invincible, less than their colleagues or like they belong? Are they in a constant battle to prove themselves, or do they feel free to focus on the thing they love – science? How do they deal with the stereotypes associated with being female, as well as those associated with being black?

In a conversation with Kirk Johnson, Sant Director of the National Museum of Natural History, Rita Colwell will talk about her new book, A Lab of One's Own: One Woman's Personal Journey Through Sexism in Science and reflect on her six-decade journey in science, from her start as a graduate student at Purdue University through leading thousands of scientists investigating the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Register for the event on December 2, 2020.

Join this event for an evening of stories from women leading field research in partnership with the IF/THEN Ambassadors! Hosted by Story Collider’s Maryam Zaringhalam and Emma Young. Wednesday, December 9, 2020.

Four years after science took a hit, there’s hope. 500 Women Scientists is a grassroots organization started by four women who met in graduate school at CU Boulder and who maintained friendships and collaborations after jobs and life took them away from Boulder. Since 2016, they have grown to thousands of members and almost 500 pods (local chapters) worldwide. They edited thousands of Wikipedia pages to make sure women’s contributions to science are acknowledged, created a platform to abolish manels and make it easy to find a woman scientist with expertise in any discipline, grew a network of thousands of women scientists and supporters who are working on making science open, inclusive and accessible, and launched a fellowship for women of color.

 

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Marianna Limas, Social Media Manager 
Nilda Rivera, Partnership and Events Manager

 

 

 

 

 

RFS Briefings - November 9, 2020

Dear Colleagues, 

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

Mark your calendar for November 20, 1 pm ET! The GEN/RFS “Women in Science” series is thrilled to host Jennifer Doudna in a live, candid “fireside chat”. CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna, PhD (University of California, Berkeley/HHMI) was recently awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Emmanuelle Charpentier, PhD, a microbiologist at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin. Join Jennifer and some special guests for conversation and celebration of a truly groundbreaking scientist. Register now!

In case you missed our previous webinars, you can watch them now:

• The Life and Times of Rosalind Franklin: British biologist and author Dr. Matthew Cobb explores Franklin’s contribution to DNA structure and how they have been seen in popular culture.
• The Empowerment of Having a Lab of One’s Own: Dr. Rita Colwell, president of the Rosalind Franklin Society, is a pioneering microbiologist and the first woman to lead the National Science Foundation. She is a Distinguished University Professor at both the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health.
• The Great Convergence: How Biology and Engineering Unite to Reshape our World. Renowned neuroscientist Dr. Susan Hockfield, who served as president of MIT from 2004–2012, shares her views of the future that she lays out in her recent book, The Age of Living Machines: How Biology Will Build the Next Technology Revolution.

We're very sad to report that Angelika Amon, a Board Member of the RFS, professor of biology and a member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, died on October 29 at age 53, following a two-and-a-half-year battle with ovarian cancer. Amon made profound contributions to our understanding of the fundamental biology of the cell. “Angelika’s intellect and research were as astonishing as her bravery and her spirit. Her lab’s fundamental work on aneuploidy was integral to our establishment of the Alana Down Syndrome Center at MIT,” said Li-Huei Tsai, the Picower Professor of Neuroscience and co-director of the Alana Down Syndrome Center, in an article for MIT.

Angelika Amon. Credit: Constance Brukin, courtesy of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Archives

NYU Langone Health announced it would name the Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in honor of Jan T. Vilcek, MD, PhD, a renowned scientist and philanthropist whose transformative work has led to groundbreaking discoveries and vast improvements in human health. Dr. & Mrs. Vilcek are longtime supporters of RFS. “Naming our graduate school after Dr. Vilcek reflects our steadfast support for students who come here from across the globe to conduct groundbreaking research,” said Naoko Tanese, PhD, associate dean for biomedical sciences and director of the Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences.

Marica F. Vilcek and Jan T. Vilcek, MD, PhD

RFS Briefings - October 26, 2020

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

Mark your calendar for Wednesday, October 28th. We will be hosting our third Women in Science Webinar with Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News. In this webinar, renowned neuroscientist Dr. Susan Hockfield, who served as president of MIT from 2004–2012, will share her views of the future that she lays out in her recent book, The Age of Living Machines: How Biology Will Build the Next Technology Revolution. Dr. Hockfield will assess several breathtaking new technologies, such as virus-built batteries, protein-based water filters, cancer-diagnosing nanoparticles, mind-reading bionic limbs, and computer-engineered crops. The development of these technologies, as Dr. Hockfield notes, is the scientific story of the 21st century—one that holds the promise of overcoming some of the greatest humanitarian, medical, and environmental challenges of our time. Register today!

CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna, PhD (University of California, Berkeley/HHMI) was recently awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Emmanuelle Charpentier, PhD, a microbiologist at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin. The GEN/RFS “Women in Science” series is thrilled to host Jennifer Doudna in a live, candid “fireside chat”. Join Jennifer and some special guests for conversation and celebration of a truly groundbreaking scientist, on November 20, 2020. Register now!

In case you missed our previous webinars, you can watch them now:

• The Life and Times of Rosalind Franklin: British biologist and author Dr. Matthew Cobb explores Franklin’s contribution to DNA structure and how they have been seen in popular culture.
• The Empowerment of Having a Lab of One’s Own: Rita Colwell, president of the Rosalind Franklin Society, is a pioneering microbiologist and the first woman to lead the National Science Foundation. She is a Distinguished University Professor at both the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health.

We are excited to announce that Raven Baxter, also known as Raven the Science Maven, is the newest member of the Rosalind Franklin Society's advisory board! She is an internationally acclaimed science communicator and molecular biologist who works to progress the state of science culture by creating spaces that are inclusive, educational, and real. She is recognized as a global influencer in Fortune Magazine’s 40 Under 40 list for 2020.

Raven Baxter, also known as Raven the Science Maven.

We are also pleased to announce that Dr. Mona Singh, Professor of  Computer Science at the Lewis Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University will be assuming the role of Editor-in-Chief of Journal of  Computational Biology on January 1, 2021 taking over the mantle from Drs. Sorin Istrail and Michael Waterman. Dr. Singh will start transitioning into her role on Nov 1, 2020.

Mona Singh. Image: Butler College, Princeton University

Dr. Singh started her journey in Computational Biology with her B.A and M.S at Harvard University followed by her PhD from MIT all majoring in Computer Science. She currently works broadly in Computational Molecular Biology focusing on the development of algorithms to decode genomes at the level of proteins.