Speakers List
A recurring issue at conferences and seminars is the underwhelming number of URM speakers giving talks. A commonly cited reason for this is not knowing who to invite. To that end, we’ve begun compiling a list of prominent URM researchers across every field of STEM and Medicine. We hope that conference organizers can use this list as a resource when inviting speakers. However we hope that organizers use this list conscientiously. There is a well-known, and well-documented, issue of “tokenism”, i.e. the idea that women and underrepresented minority researchers are included to give an appearance of diversity. We would like to stress that a diverse conference is not just about representation of minority speakers but also about creating an environment that is conducive to sharing ideas and collaborating. See our “Best practices” page for tips on how to create an inclusive environment.
Finally, we would like to stress that:
(i) Speakers on our list should be compensated properly for their time.
(ii) We are not the only resource out there! Check out this database for more lists of underrepresented researchers.
(iii) Our list is mainly nomination based (we then reach out to the researchers for their consent to be featured on the list). Please consider nominating yourself or others to be on the list! You can do so here or by emailing us at dscnatl@gmail.com.
NOTES ON USING OUR LIST
1) Please see here for the Speakers List in spreadsheet format (useful for more complicated searches), an explanation of all of the fields (and how to search them), and a list of sorted subfields.
2) Our website saves your previous search for future reference! If you would like to clear your search, press the “Clear” button (next to the “Submit” button).
| Field (see Notes for sorted subfields) | Preferred Name | Position | Description | Website | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Analytical Chemistry, Energy, Materials Chemistry | Dr. Joaquín Rodríguez-López | Associate Professor | Our research focuses on characterizing heterogeneous electrode materials and generating new strategies to advance electrochemical energy technologies and sensing. We aim to pioneer methods of analysis at the nano- and micro-scale for understanding how electrode structure, shape and size, as well as the formation of chemical intermediates, impact the performance of materials and interfaces for batteries, fuel cells, and solar technologies. | Lab Website | electrochemistry, batteries, imaging, electrocatalysis, fuel cell, photoelectrocatalysis |
| Combinatorics | Dr. Opel Jones | Assistant Professor | The Jones Group investigates pattern avoidance in permutations, specifically looking at Dumont permutation avoidance. | Faculty Page | enumerative combinatorics, pattern avoidance, minimal occurrence, Dumont permutation, Genocchi numbers |
| Neuroscience, Physiology | Dr. Lucas Albrechet-Souza | Instructor | Dr. Albrechet-Souza’s research interest are broadly focused on understanding changes in brain mechanisms induced by traumatic stress in rodents, with emphasis in the involvement of corticotropin-releasing factor and endocannabinoids in discrete brain areas on stress-induced dysregulated behavior, including anxiety, avoidance and escalation of alcohol consumption. | Faculty Page | traumatic stress, PTSD, endocannabinoids, CRF, anxiety, avoidance, alcohol |
| Neuroscience | Dr. Jose Rodrígeuz-Romaguera | Assistant Professor | The Rodríguez-Romaguera lab investigates the neural mechanisms that mediate the hyperarousal states that emerge in many psychiatric disorders. They use a combination of in vivo optical tools that allow for single cell dissection in mice as a model system. | Lab Website | anxiety, autism, hyperarousal, emotion, motivation, amygdala, single-cell, calcium imaging, optogenetics |
| Microbiology | Dr. Tiara Perez Morales | Assistant Professor | The Perez Morales lab investigates how lactobacilli use quorom sensing (specifically the transcriptional regulator Rgg) to sense and respond to environmental conditions. | Lab Website | Lactobacilli, cell-cell communication, quorum sensing, microbiome |
| Neuroscience | Dr. Maria Diehl | Assistant Professor | The Diehl Faryna Lab investigates the changes in neural circuitry that accompany fear- and anxiety-inducing stimuli with the goal of understanding why some individuals recover from trauma while others develop neuropsychiatric diseases (i.e. PTSD). | Lab Website | trauma, fear, anxiety, resilience, post-traumatic stress disorder, optogenetics |
| Medical Mycology, Microbiology | Dr. Jesus Antonio Romo | Post-doc | Dr. Romo works in the Kumamoto laboratory at Tufts University School of Medicine investigating the effects of Candida species during infection by bacterial pathogens in the context of the gastrointestinal tract. Please visit https://www.asm.org/Biographies/Jesus-Antonio-Romo for his podcast. | Research Page | human microbiome, mycobiome, fungus, GI tract, C. difficile, Candida |
| Neuroscience | Dr. Marcelo Febo | Assistant Professor, Program Director of Translational Imaging | The Febo Lab uses fMRIs to longitudinally investigates drug response in the cognitive and emotional centers of rats’ brains. | Faculty Page | brain imaging, neuroimaging, fMRI, cognition, emotion, drug addiction, cocaine, dopamine, oxytocin, vasopressin, prefrontal cortex, motivation |
| Biochemistry, Cellular Biology, Molecular Biology | Dr. Jorge Torres | Professor | The Torres Lab investigates the mechanisms behind mitotic microtubule spindle formation in cell division. | Lab Website | cell cycle, cell division, spindle assembly, microtubules, motor proteins, phosphatase, methyltransferase, ubiquitin ligase, computational modeling |
| Psychology | Dr. Glorisa J. Canino | Full Professor | The Canino Lab investigates rates of depression amongst Latina/o/x youth and the epigentics of pediatric asthma. | Faculty Page | epidemiology, asthma, mental health, epigenetics, Latino/a/x |