Promoting Black biologists and science literacy

Over the past few years, I have built a collection of "spotlights" on Black faculty in STEM aimed at a lay audience, to promote the work of these scientists and engage non-experts in thinking about scientific inquiry. Originally posted on Facebook throughout the month of February, these spotlights are now collected here.

If you are featured and would like to make an addition/correction (or if you would like me to take down your profile), please let me know! If you are a Black scientist who I have not written about and you would like to be featured in a future February, I would love to hear from you.

Gerry Downes, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Biology (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)

Dr. Downes studies how the spinal cord develops, using zebrafish as a model system.

February 25, 2017

Avery August, Ph.D.

Chair of Microbiology and Immunology (Cornell University)

Dr. August is interested in how T cells in the immune system receive signals to mount an immune response.

February 24, 2017

Jill Bargonetti, Ph.D.

Professor of Biological Sciences (Hunter College, City University of New York)

Dr. Bargonetti's research focuses on the relationship between the hormone estrogen and a genetic pathway that is supposed to get rid of cells that are growing out of control.

February 23, 2017

Beronda Montgomery, Ph.D.

MSU Foundation Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Microbiology & Molecular Genetics (Michigan State University)

Dr. Montgomery investigates how plants respond to light at a molecular level.

February 22, 2017

Phyllis Dennery, M.D.

Professor of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry (Brown University)

Dr. Dennery is a pediatrician who focuses on newborn infants and the Chair of Pediatrics at Warren Alpert School of Medicine. Her research focuses on lung problems in infants born prematurely.

February 21, 2017

Diane Beckles, Ph.D.

Professor of Plant Sciences (University of California, Davis)

Dr. Beckles is a plant biologist who focuses on maximizing the quality and quantity of food crops.

February 20, 2017

John Carpten, Ph.D.

Chair of Translational Genomics (University of Southern California)

Dr. Carpten's research interests are broad, but all share the same theme of “translational medicine” — a term used to describe projects that combine basic science research with medical applications.

February 19, 2017

Neil Hanchard, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Molecular and Human Genetics (Baylor College of Medicine)

Dr. Hanchard is a clinical geneticist at the Texas Children’s Clinical Care Center in Houston. He is interested in the genetics of several complex pediatric diseases, trying to piece together why different people will have different forms of the same disease.

February 18, 2017

James M. Ntambi, Ph.D.

Professor of Biochemistry & Katherine Berns Van Donk Steenbock Professor in Nutrition (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Dr. Ntambi is interested in how genetic factors interact with diet, hormones, and other environmental factors to impact obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.

February 17, 2017

Olufunmilayo Olopade, M.D.

Director of the Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics (University of Chicago)

Dr. Olopade was a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Fellowship and is a leading expert in personalized risk assessment for breast cancer.

February 16, 2017

Gentry Patrick, Ph.D.

Vice Chair of Neurobiology (University of California, San Diego)

Dr. Patrick studies how synapses (connections between neurons) are formed and maintained in the central nervous system (CNS) of mammals.

February 15, 2017

Jacquin Niles, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Bioloigcal Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Dr. Niles's objective is to improve our understanding of how the malaria parasite works in order to design treatment options that are biologically based. Although most drugs currently used to treat or prevent malaria seem to work well, we don’t really understand why.

February 14, 2017

Charles Rotimi, Ph.D.

Director of the Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health (National Institutes of Health)

The Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, headed by Dr. Rotimi, is an initiative that brings together researchers from different parts of the NIH to better understand how genetic and environmental factors come together to result in complex diseases, across the world’s populations.

February 13, 2017

Cassandra Extavour, Ph.D.

Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (Harvard University)

Dr. Extavour is a developmental biologist interested in using genetic approaches to study how, during embryonic development, specific cells become germ line cells — the cells that will go on to form eggs or sperm.

February 12, 2017

Scott Edwards, Ph.D.

Alexander Agassiz Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (Harvard University)

In addition to running a research lab, Dr. Edwards is the Curator of Ornithology at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology. He studies the evolutionary history of birds.

February 11, 2017