The American Association for Anatomy (AAA) has selected the first Anatomy Scholars Program (ASP) cohort. The ASP was designed to support and increase retention of Underrepresented Minorities (URM) in STEM academia in the United States and Canada by establishing mentoring relationships between established professors and early-career academics.
The importance of this program cannot be overstated. While the past few decades have seen a 9.3-fold increase in the number of URM Ph.D. graduates, this has yielded only a 2.6-fold increase in URM faculty members. Likewise, the racial and ethnic composition of academic and medical school faculty is far from representative of the U.S. and Canadian populations.
“I am so proud of the American Association for Anatomy for supporting this program. This is a great example of ‘putting your money where your mouth is.’ The goals of this program are not only to provide professional development, and mentoring, but to help develop peer-to-peer support for URMs in the field of Anatomy. It aligns with AAA’s strategic priorities and ongoing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Our hope is to reduce the feeling of isolation that comes with being the ‘Only,’” says Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee Immediate-Past Chair and ASP Program Leader Loydie Jerome-Majewska, Ph.D.
The members of the first ASP cohort of Scholars are:
- Jailenne I. Quiñones Rodríguez, M.A., doctoral candidate at Central University of the Caribbean. Quiñones is currently developing electron microscopy techniques to study protein localization in neuron synapses.
- Caio Sarmento, P.T., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy at California State University, Fresno. Dr. Sarmento’s research focuses on developing exercise programs for patients with chronic pain conditions.
- Andre Tavares, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology at The George Washington University. Dr. Tavares’ research focuses on genetic causes of craniofacial birth defects.
The program will feature training modules on topics including grant-writing, work-life balance, and lab management and will match the Scholars with established scientist mentors. The two-year program will begin at the 2022 AAA Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with Experimental Biology.
"I’m grateful to the DEI Committee for their thoughtful approach in developing this program. They identified early-career faculty as being particularly vulnerable to attrition, based on the experience of isolation and associated administrative burdens," says AAA President Valerie Burke DeLeon, Ph.D. "The ASP will provide a supportive community for all the participants, and the professional success of program participants benefits our entire AAA community. Every aspect of the ASP aligns with our Association values of Community, Respect, Inclusion, Integrity, and Discovery."
About AAA
The American Association for Anatomy is an international membership organization of biomedical researchers and educators specializing in the structural foundation of health and disease. AAA connects gross anatomists, neuroscientists, developmental biologists, physical anthropologists, cell biologists, physical therapists, and others to advance the anatomical sciences through research, education, and professional development. To join, visit anatomy.org.
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