Blog
Conversations with Vandy Biochemistry: Celebrating Our Differences and Shared Experiences
December DEI Journal Club – Differential retention contributes to racial/ethnic disparity in U.S. academia
Feb. 13, 2024—For December, Eli McDonald presented Differential retention contributes to racial/ethnic disparity in U.S. academia for the DEI journal club. The paper sought to elaborate the well known but poorly understood “leaky pipeline”, a phrase describing the prevalent underrepresentation of women and minorities at higher level academic positions. The group hypothesized that poor retention rates contributes...
November DEI Journal Club – Gender Differences in Accepting and Receiving Requests for Tasks with Low Promotability
Nov. 29, 2023—For the November DEI journal club, Dr. Juan Carvajal-Garcia, a postdoctoral fellow in the Merrikh lab, presented Gender Differences in Accepting and Receiving Requests for Tasks with Low Promotability, a 2017 study published in the American Economic Review. In this study, the authors explored questions surrounding the allocation of “low promotability” tasks, those which benefit...
October Journal Club – “Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students”
Oct. 31, 2023—In October, the Biochemistry DEI committee held its inaugural journal club. The goal of this journal club is to highlight scientific papers studying issues of DEI in the sciences, as well as those describing evidence-based practices in increasing DEI. This month, Dr. Katherine Stefanski of the Sanders lab presented a 2012 PNAS paper exploring the...
A Conversation on Mental Health: Discussing the Vanderbilt Basic Sciences Hidden Disabilities Panel
Nov. 7, 2022—Written by Kathryn Brewer During the month of October, Vanderbilt Basic Sciences hosted a Hidden Disabilities Panel on Thursday afternoons. The purpose of these panels, which highlighted issues such as ADHD/autism, diabetes/hypertension, mental illness, and living with long COVID, was to introduce aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion (or DEI) that sometimes go overlooked in...
A Conversation with Tyler Hansen
Jun. 20, 2022—Interview conducted and transcribed by Kathryn Brewer This month on the blog, I had the opportunity to talk with Tyler Hansen, a fifth year graduate student in the Emily Hodges lab. We chatted about a little bit of everything, from the woes of coding to the possibility of starting a monthly tea time to...
A Conversation with Dr. Manuel Ascano
Apr. 20, 2022—Interview conducted and transcribed by Alexandra Blee For this installment of our blog, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Manuel (Manny) Ascano, an Associate Professor of Biochemistry here at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Ascano had some illuminating views to share; we dove right into a discussion of imposter syndrome within the context of DEI before reflecting on his...
A Conversation with Dr. Alexandra Blee
Mar. 18, 2022—Interview conducted by Kathryn Brewer and transcribed by Alexandra Blee This is the third installment of our blog series focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within our Vanderbilt and Department of Biochemistry communities. Through conversations with trainees, staff, and faculty within our department, we hope to build a culture of curiosity, a willingness to...
A Conversation with Kathryn Brewer
Feb. 18, 2022—Interview conducted and transcribed by Alexandra Blee This is the second installment of our blog series focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within our Vanderbilt and Department of Biochemistry communities. Through conversations with trainees, staff, and faculty within our department, we hope to build a culture of curiosity, a willingness to share, and mutual...
A Conversation with Dr. Carlos F. Lopez
Jan. 31, 2022—Interview conducted and transcribed by Alexandra Blee Welcome to the first installment of a new monthly blog series focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within our Vanderbilt and Department of Biochemistry communities. Through conversations with trainees, staff, and faculty within our department, we hope to build a culture of curiosity, a willingness to share, and...