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Volume 1, Issue 5

In This Edition

March 15, 2016

Volume 1, Issue 5

NIH DPC Newsletter

Consortium News

Welcome to our new Newsletter layout!

You may have noticed something different about our newsletter this week! We are debuting a new layout that condenses the length of the email that you receive while providing for longer articles.

The new layout features a summary of the main article in the email and the title serves as a link to a more detailed article featuring photographs, videos and hyperlinks.

See a story that you like? Make sure to click on its title for more information.


For more information click here.

Communications Working Group

This month’s webinar, titled “2015 DPC Annual Meeting Findings and Next Steps”, was presented by Nancy E. Calderón, MPH and Nicole MacCalla, PhD from the CEC. The recording will be available here. The next webinar will be held April 8th. The Communication Working Group (Comm WG) will also be hosting short presentations on each site’s communication strategy during their monthly meeting from April to June. Those presentations will also be recorded and made available online. Please make sure you contact your site’s Communication Specialist/Comm WG representative to make sure your site’s presentation features all the exciting activity plans you have related to communication, branding, recruitment/outreach and innovative activities. If you have news you would like to highlight as part of your site’s updates or share events, please communicate them to your Comm WG representative so they can be featured in the newsletter. We are very excited to jazz up our newsletter with your ideas and fun content!
For more information click here.

Executive Steering Committee

The ESC met February 29th and is currently voting on the approval of the Data Sharing Policy. They also kindly finalized the date and location for the 2016 Consortium’s Annual Meeting. We look forward to seeing you in sunny California October 11th and 12th (Long Beach, CA) right before the SACNAS Annual Conference. The venue is still TBD. Stay tuned for more information in the next few months as we jumpstart the planning phase of the event. If you have any questions, please contact the CEC. The ESC also welcomed new committee members: Dr. Alison Gammie from the NIH and Dr. Kola Okuyemi from NRMN. We all look forward to working with them as part of the ESC!
For more information click here.

Office of Management and Budget Approval

Tick, tock, tick, tock… The CEC continues to be excited about getting OMB approval to start gathering the data that sites have collected on behalf of the consortium. After Dr. Eagan’s presentation last month, the consortium is very excited to start on analyses to learn more from the consortium’s activities. Stay tuned! We hope to kick off the start of Spring with good news from OMB.
For more information click here.
People in Biomedicine

Luis P. Villarreal, Ph.D.

Luis P. Villarreal, Ph.D., is a professor of molecular biology and biochemistry within the School of Biological Sciences at University California, Irvine (UCI).

Dr. Villarreal is the director for the Center for Virus Research at UCI. A Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) Distinguished Scientist.

Dr. Villarreal was awarded the 2000 National Science Foundation Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.


For more information click here.

Treena Livingston Arinzeh, Ph.D.

Treena L. Arinzeh, Ph.D., a biomedical engineer specializing in adult stem cell implantation. She is a professor and director of the graduate program in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).

Dr. Arinzeh’s prestigious awards include the 2003 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development award and the 2004 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. Additionally, Dr. Arinzeh was nominated as an Emerald Honoree in for Educational Leadership at the 2013 BEYA STEM Conference.


For more information click here.

Anne Marie Weber-Main, PhD

Anne Marie Weber-Main, PhD is Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota where she serves as Associate Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs and Diversity in the Department of Medicine, Director of Faculty Mentoring Programs in the Medical School Office of Faculty Affairs, and Co-Director of Mentoring in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute.

Dr. Weber-Main was originally trained as a PhD chemist in an NIH-funded laboratory, but as a medical school faculty member her teaching, research, and leadership have focused on two core areas: (1) development and testing of innovative models for faculty mentoring and mentor/mentee training in research-intensive settings, and (2) institutional research productivity and research faculty development, with an emphasis on development of scientific writing skills.


For more information click here.
In The News

How historically black colleges could help Ivy League schools become more inclusive

The Washington Post reports “Recent demonstrations highlighting the lack of diversity and inclusion at many colleges have brought into focus the role of these institutions in ensuring that all students are truly part of a campus community. Many of the black students who have protested have indicated that they feel unwelcome on their campuses and that their universities are doing too little to promote a culture of inclusion.”
For more information click here.

College freshmen are more liberal and keen on political activism, survey says

LA Times reports “UCLA researchers said the heightened interest in political activism could be the result of students witnessing the recent wave of protests against police shootings of African American men and student demonstrations against campus treatment of minorities at the University of Missouri, Claremont McKenna College, Occidental College and elsewhere.”
For more information click here.

CSUN Part of National Effort to Create Sustainable Change in Student Success

CSUN Today reports “California State University, Northridge has joined a national effort, called Re-Imagining the First Year of College, aimed at ensuring success for all students, particularly those who historically have been underserved by higher education — students who are low income, first generation or persons of color.”
For more information click here.

The Long Beach Miracle

The Atlantic reports “Long Beach Unified graduates who attend Long Beach City College graduate from that school at higher rates than their college classmates from other school districts. And if and when they transfer to Long Beach State, they graduate at higher rates than other transfer students.”
For more information click here.

How Many Protests Will It Take to Finally Diversify Our Campuses?

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports “the intensity and frequency of demonstrations conducted by students of color at campuses across the nation during the last few months do not reconcile with the sense of racial harmony that the institutions have attempted to convey.”
For more information click here.

Xavier University leader: nation needs to tap black talent

The Washington Post reports “the new president of Xavier University, the nation’s only Roman Catholic historically black college, says the nation needs to do a better job of tapping the talents of minority students to meet the need for more scientists and engineers.”
For more information click here.
Research Digest

SF BUILD Mentor Meeting Hosted by UCSF

On January 19th UCSF hosted SF BUILD's mentor meeting. The workshop included multiple presentations featuring suggestions on how mentors could help develop productive relationships with their mentees. Below are a couple of thoughts mentors shared during the meeting.
For more information click here.

NRMN Presentations at Feb 2016’s Understanding Interventions Conference in Philadelphia

NRMN researchers from the Morehouse School of Medicine, University of Wisconsin — Madison, Northwestern University and University of North Texas Health Science Center offered several sessions through February’s Understanding Interventions that Broaden Participation in Science Careers, a three-day conference that took place February 26th – 28th in Philadelphia.
For more information click here.

Online Forum: Is Grad School Right for You? Presented by NRMN and AAMC GREAT Group

NRMN and the AAMC GREAT Group have launched a series of 8 career development webinars that focus on the graduate school process.
For more information click here.

Scholars Collect Samples to Improve Understanding of the Impact of Biodiversity

More than thirty biology undergraduates and ReBUILDetroit scholars from Marygrove College and Wayne State University recently collected larvae for research as part of their continued effort in helping the greater Detroit community. Scholars along with graduate students, a post-doctoral fellow and faculty teamed up with the Clinton River Watershed Council on their annual Winter Stonefly Search.
For more information click here.
Events

Diversity Program Consortium's Webinar Series

Event Date: Fri, Apr 08, 2016

Location: Online

About Us

The NIH Diversity Program Consortium (DPC) Newsletter provides updates on activities at DPC sites, shares progress on collaborative efforts within the consortium, and highlights news and recent publications related to diversity and mentoring in the biomedical sciences.




The Diversity Program Consortium Coordination and Evaluation Center at UCLA is supported by Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health / National Institutes of General Medical Sciences under award number U54GM119024.
Need Assistance? Please contact our support team: info@diversityprogramconsortium.org .