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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neuroscience | Dr. Dayan Knox | Associate Professor | The Knox lab investigates how stress-induced changes in peripheral hormonal and ascending arousal systems contribute to abnormal cognitive/emotional processes. | Lab Website | hormones, cell signaling, cognition, emotion, stress, mental health, basal forebrain, learning, memory, behavior |
| Epigenetics, Genetics, Immunology, Microbiology | Dr. Antonio Gomez | Post-doc | Dr. Gomez conducts research in Epigenetics and RNA function with emphasis on the role of these processes in development and cancer. He completed a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from Stanford studying host genetics of infection and is currently a postdoc in the labs of Janine LaSalle and David Segal at UC Davis. | Research Page | CRISPR Screens, Data Analysis, Epigenetics, Viral Engineering, Protein Analysis, Immunology, RNA biology |
| Neuroscience | Dr. Ruth Barrientos | Associate Professor | The Barrientos Lab investigates the vulnerabilities of the normal aging brain that, when challenged (i.e. with infection, surgery, high-fat diet, etc), lead to exaggerated neuroinflammation and long-lasting memory deficits. | Lab Website | aging, infection, long-term memory, neuroinflammation |
| Bioinformatics, Microbiology | Dr. Phillip Brooks | Senior Scientist | Dr. Brooks investigates bioinformatics and applied microbiology within the biotechnology sector. | Microbiome, Metagenomics, Bioinformatics | |
| Health Equity, Physical Rehabilitation, Psychology | Dr. Susan Flowers Benton | Assistant Professor | The Flowers Benton lab investigates how to create more inclusive health promotion interventions, in order to address disparities in chronic illness and aging, and also investigates how researchers can build stronger relationships with the community to increase African American participation in Alzheimer's Disease and other biomedical research. | health equity, research participation, Alzheimer's Disease, Rehabilitation Psychology | |
| Epigenetics, Neuroscience | Dr. Sebastian Alvarado | Assistant Professor | I study how environmental stimuli program gene function and its relation to behavior and pigmentation. | Lab Website | Pigmentation, Epigenetics, Behavior, DNA methylation, Histone modification |
| Applied Mathematics, Health Equity, Industrial/Manufacturing Engineer, Stochastics, Systems Engineering | Dr. Jessye Leigh Bemley Talley | Assistant Professor | The Talley group investigates problems that identify vulnerabilities and disruptions that occur within supply chains to develop intervention or mitigation strategies that optimize the total system. | Lab Website | supply chain, cost analysis, Markov chains, queueing theory, port disruption, humanitarian relief, healthcare, Operations Research |
| Equity/Advocacy, Nursing | Dr. Timian Godfrey | Clinical Assistant Professor | Timian Godfrey research interests include health care promotion in American Indian/Alaska Native communities and how we can culturally adapt evidence-based practices for these patient populations. Additional interests include investigating the science behind diversity, equity and inclusion in health science education to increase the presence of underrepresented scientists and clinicians in STEM fields. | Faculty Page | American Indian, Indigenous, Alaska Native, social determinants of health, cultural competence |
| Health Equity, Public Health, Research Ethics | Dr. Stephanie Russo Carroll | Assistant Professor | The Collaboratory for Indigenous Data Governance develops research, policy, and practice innovations for Indigenous data sovereignty. The lab’s research, teaching, and engagement seek to transform institutional governance and ethics for Indigenous control of Indigenous data, particularly within open science, open data, and big data contexts. | Lab Website | Indigenous, policy, data sovereignty |
| Biochemistry, Chemistry, Microbiology | Dr. Antonio Tinoco Valencia | Post-doc | Dr. Tinoco Valencia's research focuses on the discovery of microbial biochemical reactions occurring in the human gut microbiome, the characterization of new microbial enzymes, and investigating the impact of microbial metabolism on human health and disease. | human microbiome, microbial metabolism, mechanistic enzymology, bioorganic chemistry, biological engineering |