Appendix B

Biographical Sketches of Presenters

(In alphabetical order by last name)

David A. Acosta, M.D., provides strategic vision and leadership for the Association of American Medical Colleges’ (AAMC) diversity and inclusion activities across the medical education community and leads the association’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion unit. Dr. Acosta, a family medicine physician, joined the AAMC from the University of California (UC), Davis, School of Medicine, where he served as senior associate dean for equity, diversity, and inclusion and as associate vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer at UC Davis Health System. He previously served as the first chief diversity officer at the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine, where he established the Center for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and the Center for Cultural Proficiency in Medical Education.

Dr. Acosta earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Loyola University and his medical degree from the UC Irvine School of Medicine. He completed his residency training at Community Hospital of Sonoma County in Santa Rosa, California—an affiliate of the UC San Francisco School of Medicine—and a faculty development fellowship at the UW Department of Family Medicine.

Olujimi A. Ajijola, M.D., Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Departments of Medicine-Cardiology, and Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative

Physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He serves as director of the Neurocardiology Research Program and co-director of the UCLA-Caltech Medical Scientist Training Program. Dr. Ajijola received his B.A. with distinction from the University of Virginia, his medical degree from Duke University, and his Ph.D. in molecular, cellular, and integrative physiology from UCLA. His clinical training in internal medicine and cardiovascular diseases/cardiac electrophysiology were performed at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and at UCLA, respectively. His clinical and research interests revolve around innovative methods to control life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias by modulating the autonomic nervous system. His lab utilizes cutting-edge electrical, genetic, and computational tools to examine how cardiac injury remodels the autonomic nervous system, and how this dysregulation drives arrhythmogenesis. He is also an alumnus of the National Academies’ New Voices Program and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Medical Fellows Program, and a recipient of the National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award (DP2) and Young Physician Scientist Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He is involved in several national initiatives to diversify the medical and scientific workforce.

Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Ph.D., is the managing director of the Dana Center. She previously served as the executive director of the Education Trust-West, the California branch of a national research and advocacy nonprofit organization committed to educational justice for students of color, students from low-income communities, and English learners. As a lifelong math lover, she is fiercely committed to increasing opportunities in STEM for students of color. A researcher by training and advocate by blood, she has taught subjects ranging from statistics to writing and research methods at the K–12 and postsecondary levels. Dr. Arrillaga inherits her commitment to racial justice from her family. Her father was among the first classes to integrate the University of Mississippi Law School, and her mother fought for antidiscrimination laws across north Mississippi.

Throughout her more than 20 years of research and advocacy, Dr. Arrillaga has worked for and partnered with many organizations, including the Careers Ladder Project, the Hewlett Foundation, First 5 Los Angeles, Mathematica Policy Research, and College Bound. She serves on numerous committees, boards, and taskforces—among them Google’s Equitable Artificial Intelligence Research Roundtable, University of California’s Provost Advisory Council on Educational Equity, California State Uni-

versity’s Steering Committee on Academic Preparation and Quantitative Reasoning, University of California’s Test Feasibility Steering Committee, and the Dana Center’s Launch Years Consensus Panel. Dr. Arrillaga was also appointed as co-chair of the California Department of Education’s Closing the Achievement Gap Taskforce. She has authored dozens of publications and is frequently interviewed by media outlets such as CNN, Ed Source, and the Los Angeles Times. Dr. Arrillaga holds a B.A. in mathematics from Smith College and an M.S. in survey methodology from the University of Maryland, College Park. She was the third Black person to graduate with a Ph.D. from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.

David J. Asai, Ph.D., is currently senior director for science education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). He directs the Undergraduate and Graduate Programs (UGP) group, which designs and leads grants and fellowship programs aimed at the development of students in the domain of formal education. UGP’s initiatives are centered on inclusion and founded on the belief that the responsibility for creating equitable learning environments rests primarily with the faculty, staff, and administrators. Current UGP initiatives include Inclusive Excellence, Driving Change, the Gilliam Fellows Program, the Science Education Alliance, the HHMI Professors, and the Scientific Mentorship Initiative. Dr. Asai received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Stanford University and his Ph.D. in biology from the California Institute of Technology.

Dr. Asai was professor and head of biological sciences at Purdue University and Stuart Mudd Professor and Chair of Biology at Harvey Mudd College before joining HHMI in 2008. Dr. Asai is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the American Society for Cell Biology.

Afua Awuah was born in the Bronx, New York, and as a child (and even as an adult), she loved learning about the world around her and getting involved in her community. Her curiosity and love for learning led her to join community-based programs that fostered and nurtured her interests. Two programs that serve as a foundation to her interest in STEM, and played a role in nurturing her dreams, are Camp G.O.A.L.S for GIRLS and Futures and Options (F&O), which both aimed to promote awareness of the STEM field to underrepresented students in medicine. Through these programs, she was able to participate in internships that aligned with her goals to further her knowledge. She also worked with medical professionals

whose experiences were similar to hers, and she learned how to network, which helped her build her confidence. In 2019, she decided to pay it forward to F&O as a mentor to Bronx high school students with an interest in STEM. She worked with students like herself, students who have a burning desire to serve in STEM, but felt crippled by their circumstances. She supported her students by exploring careers in STEM, and shared her journey to encourage the students to continue to persevere. She is also a mentor at Pathway to Purpose, where she supports college awareness initiatives by interacting with middle and high school students from schools that have low graduation and college matriculation rates. Ms. Awuah speaks on the importance of attending college, and demystifying myths associated with the college process in an effort to alleviate fears surrounding this process. Her greatest goal is to become a physician where she is able to empower people of all backgrounds to take control of their health through education and building relationships, as she is currently doing at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as a patient care coordinator. She works with patients with gastrointestinal cancers where she not only is able to witness the rigors and intensity required to provide exceptional patient care but also is able to learn about different cancers and their treatment types. Most importantly, she has learned how to support her patients through showing kindness, diligence, and empathy. Her love for her community has led her to serve as a member in two nonprofit organizations that both aim to provide medical assistance to communities in Ghana by teaming up with health-care providers and doing pop-up clinics and food, clothes, book, and toy drives. She and her team recently built a borehole in Ghana to bring fresh water to the community. This has really filled her heart because of the effect she has had on communities afar. Her strong commitment to her community and to people excite her and provides the fuel to her drive.

Marie A. Bernard, M.D., is the National Institutes of Health (NIH) chief officer for scientific workforce diversity (COSWD). As COSWD, she leads NIH thought regarding the science of scientific workforce diversity, assuring that the full range of talent is accessed to promote scientific creativity and innovation, both intramurally and extramurally. Dr. Bernard also co-leads NIH’s UNITE initiative to end structural racism. Prior to being selected as the COSWD in May 2021, she was deputy director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA). As NIA’s senior geriatrician, she served as the principal advisor to the NIA director. She also led a broad range of activities, including co-chairing two Department of Health and Human Services Healthy

People 2020/2030 objectives: Older Adults and Dementias, including Alzheimer’s disease. She co-led the NIH-wide Inclusion Governance Committee that ensures appropriate inclusion of individuals in clinical studies, including by sex/gender, race/ethnicity, and inclusion of children and older adults. She also led the Women of Color Committee of the NIH-wide Working Group on Women in Biomedical Careers. Her national leadership in geriatrics research, teaching, and clinical practice has been recognized by the Clark Tibbits Award from the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (2013), and the Donald P. Kent Award from the Gerontological Society of America (2014). Her work within NIH has been recognized with NIH Director’s Awards (2018 and 2019), including the NIH Director’s Award for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in 2020.

Until October 2008 she was the endowed professor and founding chairman of the Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, and associate chief of staff for geriatrics and extended care at the Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She has held numerous national leadership roles, including chair of the Department of Veterans Affairs National Research Advisory Committee, chair of the Clinical Medicine (now Health Sciences) Section of the Gerontological Society of America, board member of the American Geriatrics Society, president of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education, and president of the Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs. She has lectured and published widely in her area of research, nutrition and function in older adults, with particular focus on underrepresented minority populations. Dr. Bernard completed her undergraduate education at Bryn Mawr College and received her M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. She trained in internal medicine at Temple University Hospital, where she also served as chief resident. She received additional training through the Association of American Medical Colleges Health Services Research Institute, the Geriatric Education Center of Pennsylvania, and the Wharton School Executive Development Program.

Reginald Blake, Ph.D., is interim associate provost and professor of physics at the New York City College of Technology (City Tech) of the City University of New York. He is a climate scientist who has served three consecutive terms (12 years) on the elite New York City Panel on Climate Change, and he is affiliated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies. He is a member of the Climate Impacts Group at the NASA Goddard Institute for

Space Studies at Columbia University, and he is the co-director of City Tech’s Center for Remote Sensing and Earth System Sciences. For the past 17 years, since its inception, he has been the director of City Tech’s STEM-designated Black Male Initiative (BMI). BMI develops and implements strong, sustainable interventions that promote academic access and success for African American and Hispanic males in STEM. This model program values and fosters best practice, evidence-based, high-quality student support initiatives for African American and Hispanic males in STEM in its relentless quest to increase the quality and the quantity of African American and Hispanic males who pursue degrees in STEM disciplines. Dr. Blake’s expertise includes urban climate science, the application of satellite and ground-based remote sensing to the study of hydroclimate, hydrology, hurricanes, and air pollution. In July 2018, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation awarded him the highly prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring.

Ericka Boone, Ph.D., is the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Division of Loan Repayment. In this role, Dr. Boone is responsible for administering and providing leadership for the NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) as well as representing NIH on matters related to the operations, policy development, and evaluation of the LRPs. Prior to this position, Dr. Boone served as a health scientist administrator in the Office of Science Policy and Communications at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, where she developed and targeted science-based publications, outreach initiatives, and other activities to educate a variety of audiences about the science of drug use, abuse, and addiction. Dr. Boone’s academic background includes a B.A. in biology from Talladega College and a Ph.D. in biobehavioral health from the Pennsylvania State University.

Chris Botanga, Ph.D., is a professor of genetics and genomics at Chicago State University (CSU). Current research in his laboratory focuses on understanding the genes that are involved in cell wall biosynthesis. Dr. Botanga directs and leads a number of programs at CSU, statewide and regionally. He is currently the executive director of CSU’s Center for STEM Education and Research, the executive director and co-principal investigator (PI) for the Illinois Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (ILSAMP) and the co-director and PI for the Louis Stokes Midwest Regional Center of Excellence (LSMRCE). Dr. Botanga has received more than $11 million

in federal grants and has authored several publications in peer-reviewed journals. He is currently serving as the guest associate editor for the journal Frontiers in Education research topic New Developments in Pathways Towards Diversity and Inclusion in STEM: A United States Perspective. Prior to joining CSU, Dr. Botanga was assistant professor of biology at Augsburg College. He received a Ph.D. degree in biology from the University of Virginia and served as a postdoctoral associate (genetics and genomics) at the University of Minnesota.

Charles R. Bridges, M.D., Sc.D., is the chief technology officer and head of Cross Enterprise Innovation for the Cardiovascular/Metabolism/Retina and Pulmonary Hypertension Therapeutic Areas at Janssen Pharmaceuticals, where he leads the development of novel therapeutic and diagnostic devices and novel applications of advanced data science/analytics. His group helped develop two technologies for the early diagnosis of pulmonary arterial hypertension that are on track to achieve Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in Q3 2021 and Q1 2022.

From January 2018 to June 2020, he was global chief technology officer for the Pulmonary Hypertension Therapeutic Area. From 2015 to January 2018, Dr. Bridges was global vice president and the Cardiovascular Therapeutic Area expert for Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Medical Devices. He served as the scientific lead for nearly $1 billion of high-profile medical device investments and acquisitions. He was the J&J scientific lead on the acquisition of the Ireland-based neurovascular business Neuravi in 2017—now J&J’s fastest-growing medical device business. He spearheaded J&J’s $40 million lead investment in CVRx in 2016, leading in August 2019 to the world’s first FDA-approved neuromodulation device to treat heart failure. CVRx went public in June 2021 and is listed on NASDAQ. He is chief medical advisor, angel investor, and co-inventor of foundational technology for MindMics, Inc., a wireless earbud technology that uses infrasound to monitor cardiac rhythm and hemodynamics far more precisely than any other wearable in the world, leading to an oral presentation at the Heart Rhythm Society in July 2021.

Dr. Bridges was the first African American full professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the Bioengineering Graduate Group. He also served as chief of cardiac surgery at Pennsylvania Hospital, as well as professor and chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery at Carolinas HealthCare System with the University of North Carolina. He has received more than $10 million in

continuous National Institutes of Health (NIH) RO1 funding, has more than 170 peer-reviewed publications, and has 15 patents (issued and pending). He served as a regular member of the Bioengineering, Technology, and Surgical Sciences Study Section of NIH from 2010 to 2014, and was past chairman of the Cardiovascular Committee of the American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy. Dr. Bridges invented “molecular cardiac surgery,” arguably the most efficient method for vector-mediated gene transfer to the heart of large animals. He is co-founder of CardioMyogen, LLC, an early-stage biotech company developing novel genetic therapies for muscular dystrophy and heart failure.

Dr. Bridges received an A.B. in engineering and applied physics from Harvard College magna cum laude at age 19 after entering Harvard Medical School at age 18 in the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, graduating with honors for the M.D. degree. He received an M.S. in electrical engineering and computer science and a D.Sc. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a Whittaker Health Sciences fellow.

Michellene Davis, Esq., is named among Modern Healthcare magazine’s Top 25 Most Influential Minority Leaders in Healthcare and Becker’s Hospital Review’s Top 113 Great Leaders in Healthcare 2022 and Top 50 African Americans to Know in Healthcare. The National Association of Health Services Executives awarded her its 2021 Senior Health Care Executive Award. Ms. Davis most recently served as executive vice president and chief corporate affairs officer at RWJ Barnabas Health, the largest academic medical center system in New Jersey and one of the largest in the nation. She founded Social Impact and Community Investment, an equity-centered, policy-led community health practice addressing the social and political determinants of health. She was the first African American in state history to serve as chief policy counsel to former New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine, the first African American and only the second women to serve as New Jersey state treasurer. She was the youngest person to serve as CEO of the New Jersey Lottery and also served as a senior policy advisor in the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. She co-authored Changing Missions, Changing Lives: How a Change Agent Can Turn the Ship and Create Impact, published by Forbes Books in 2020, which provides a blueprint for those committed to leading systems change within organizations. Ms. Davis began her legal career as a trial litigator, is an honors graduate of Seton Hall University, and holds a juris doctorate from Seton

Hall School of Law. She holds executive education certificates in corporate social responsibility from the Harvard Business School and in social impact strategy from the Wharton School of Business.

Ninah Enane-Anderson, Ph.D., is a global science leader committed to growing businesses via robust innovation choices. She is a committed technology and capability innovation leader with a track record of creating and championing ideas from invention through successful product launch, leveraging digital innovation to bring scaled solutions that expand and accelerate category choices. Dr. Enane-Anderson specializes in using market/consumer insights to build breakthrough technical models with novel capability measures, robust business solutions, and partnerships for scale. She is adept to multicultures, with experience across the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and Singapore, building and leading global organizations, including development of top innovators today.

Coyness L. Ennix, Jr., M.D., FACS, is a practicing cardiac surgeon of more than 30 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, currently practicing at John Muir Hospital in Concord, California. His prior hospital appointments in the Bay Area include Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Alta Bates Medical Center, Alameda County Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente Medical Group, San Ramon Medical Center, and Valley Care Medical Center. He holds board certifications from the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.

Dr. Ennix received his medical degree from Meharry Medical College, surgical training in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Educational Foundation, and postgraduate cardiac surgery training at Baylor College of Medicine, where he joined the faculty for 4 years. He joined the Governing Board of Trustees at Meharry Medical College in 2013 and currently serves in that capacity as a member trustee. Dr. Ennix follows in the footsteps of his father, Coyness Ennix, Sr., in his conviction and passion for social justice.

Ian D. Henry, Ph.D., is a director in R&D at Procter & Gamble (P&G). A native of Marion, Indiana, Dr. Henry earned his B.A. in chemistry from Earlham College in 2001 and a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Purdue University in 2008, where he studied under Dr. M. Daniel Raftery. Currently, he leads the Analytical Group for P&G’s global Feminine Care business. Prior to Feminine Care, he led the Qualitative Mass Spectrometry

Group in the Trace Analysis Capability and the Analytical Digital Platforms Group in corporate R&D. An analytical chemist with a background in bioanalytical NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy, Dr. Henry started his P&G journey in the Beauty business, supporting innovation programs for brands such as Olay, Safeguard, Pantene, and Head & Shoulders. During his tenure in Beauty, he was an original member of the Centric Team, a grassroots-led group of Black Ph.D. scientists who led fundamental hair studies and value proposition creation that resulted in the startup of focused product initiatives for consumers of African Ancestry, most notably Pantene Gold Series, H&S Royal Oils, and, more recently, the My Black is Beautiful brand. The team’s work earned both CTO Pathfinder and P&G Diversity and Inclusion Award honors. In 2016, he was selected as a Great Leader Under 40 by LEAD Cincinnati. Beyond work, he is the vice president of the Cincinnati Chapter of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers and is active in the Cincinnati Section of the American Chemical Society, where he is involved in STEM outreach throughout the greater Cincinnati region. Since 2012, he has been a member of the Board of Trustees at Earlham College, where he leads the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.

Lynne M. Holden, M.D., is the co-founder and president of Mentoring in Medicine, Inc. (MIM). MIM is a national health and science youth development nonprofit organization. The mission of MIM is to expose, inspire, educate, and equip students to become biomedical professionals through academic enrichment, leadership development, civic engagement, and mentoring. MIM has reached nearly 52,000 students, parents, and educators from elementary school through medical school and recruited 1,500 health and science volunteers. Dr. Holden provides the overall leadership, creates the organizational strategy, recruits volunteers, facilitates program development, and establishes collaborative partnerships.

Dr. Holden earned her B.S. in zoology from Howard University, graduated from Temple University School of Medicine, and completed her residency in emergency medicine at the Jacobi/Montefiore Emergency Medicine Residency Program. She is a practicing emergency department physician at Montefiore Health System. She is a professor of emergency medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where she has served as a co-chair of the Admissions Committee and in various leadership positions in the Emergency Medicine Residency Program, the largest in the country.

Dr. Holden serves on several national boards including the Friends of the National Library of Medicine and the CUNY School of Medicine. She is active in the National Medical Association on the local, regional, and national levels. She is a deacon at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem and a member of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc.

Mentoring in Medicine has earned 60 press features including JET, Essence, CNN, the New York Times, and FOX News. Dr. Holden has published extensively and received numerous awards for her work, including the Maybelline NY-Essence Empowerment through Education Award (2007), Society of Academic Emergency Visionary Educator Award (2008), Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leader (2009), Washington Post Root 100 Leader (2010), Lifetime TV Remarkable Woman (2010), American Medical Association Inspirational Physician (2016), and United Hospital Fund Distinguished Community Service Award (2019).

Freeman A. Hrabowski, Ph.D., has been president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus (UMBC) since 1992 and is a consultant on science and math education to national agencies, universities, and school systems. In 2012, he was named by President Obama to chair the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans. He leads a university that has been recognized as a model for inclusive excellence by such publications as U.S. News &World Report, which the past 10 years has recognized UMBC as a national leader in academic innovation and undergraduate teaching. In 2012, he was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIME, and more recently he received the American Council on Education’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2018), the University of California, Berkeley’s Clark Kerr Award (2019), and the University of California, San Francisco’s UCSF Medal (2020). His most recent book, The Empowered University: Shared Leadership, Culture Change, and Academic Success (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019), examines how university communities support academic success by cultivating an empowering institutional culture.

LeRoy Jones II, Ph.D., is a program director for the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) at the National Science Foundation (NSF). Prior to joining NSF as a permanent program director, he served as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of chemistry at Chicago State University. Dr. Jones received a

B.S. in chemistry with a minor in religious studies from Bradley University and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of South Carolina and served as a postdoctoral scholar in organometallic chemistry at the California Institute of Technology.

Abdoul Madjid Kone, M.D., was born and raised in Ivory Coast and went to military academy for middle school and high school. Upon graduating high school, he earned a scholarship to the Military School of Health Sciences of Lome/Togo. After 2 years of health sciences and preparation for medical school, he won the green card lottery that allowed him to immigrate to the United States. In March 2013, he arrived in New York City. Not understanding English and having little help, Mr. Kone worked many informal jobs while learning English, including food deliverer, cameraman, and taxi driver. He felt an obligation to pay off a debt his parents took to pay for his flight to the United States. He attended a community college, then a 4-year college, and eventually medical school from where he plans on graduating in May 2022. He will begin his emergency medicine residency at Baylor College of Medicine in June 2022.

Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D., is the University Professor at the University of Connecticut (one of only two at the school). He earned his B.S.E. in chemical engineering from Princeton, his Ph.D. in biochemical engineering/biotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his M.D., magna cum laude, from the Harvard Medical School. In science, Dr. Laurencin is the pioneer of the field of regenerative engineering. He is an expert in biomaterials science, stem cell technology, nanotechnology, and morphogenesis and has worked in the Convergence of these areas. The American Institute of Chemical Engineers created the Cato T. Laurencin Regenerative Engineering Founder’s Award, recognizing his pioneering efforts. In receiving the Spingarn Medal, the highest honor of the NAACP, he was named the world’s foremost engineer-physician-scientist. The American Association for the Advancement of Science awarded Dr. Laurencin the Philip Hauge Abelson Prize given “for signal contributions to the advancement of science in the United States.” He received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the nation’s highest honor for technological achievement, in ceremonies at the White House.

Dr. Laurencin is committed to mentoring students. He is the first recipient of all the principal awards for mentoring in America: the American Association for the Advancement of Science Mentor Award; the Beckman

Award for Mentoring; and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering, in ceremonies at the White House. The University of Connecticut established the Cato T. Laurencin Scholars Award, and the Society for Biomaterials established the Cato T. Laurencin Travel Fellowship Award for underrepresented and excluded students. A champion of social justice, Dr. Laurencin received the Herbert W. Nickens Award from the American Association of Medical Colleges and is the founding chair of the W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute, dedicated to addressing health disparities. He is the founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. He conceived the IDEAL (Inclusion, Diversity, Anti-Racism and Learning) Path as a blueprint for a just and fair society. He received the Hoover Medal given in recognition of “great, unselfish, non-technical services by engineers to humanity” for his work in social justice.

Dr. Laurencin is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Medicine, and is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is the first person to receive both the oldest/highest award of the National Academy of Engineering (the Simon Ramo Founders Award) and one of the oldest/highest awards of the National Academy of Medicine (the Walsh McDermott Medal). Renowned internationally, he is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering; the National Academy of Sciences, India; the Indian National Academy of Engineering; the Benin National Academy of Sciences and Arts; the African Academy of Sciences; and the World Academy of Sciences. He is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee was elected to serve California’s 9th congressional district (now the 13th) in a special election in 1998. She is the only African American woman in Democratic Leadership, serving as co-chair of the Policy and Steering Committee. As co-chair, Rep. Lee works to ensure that committees reflect the diversity, dynamism, and integrity of the Democratic Caucus. She also works to advance the policies that compose the Democratic “For the People” agenda. In addition, she currently serves as the chair of the Majority Leader’s Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity, co-chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus, and co-chair of the Cannabis Caucus. She is the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (111th Congress) and co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (109th and

110th Congresses). Currently, Rep. Lee serves on the Budget Committee and the powerful Appropriations Committee, which oversees all federal government spending. She serves on three subcommittees (vice chair, State and Foreign Operations; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education; and Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration) of the Appropriations Committee.

Rep. Lee was born in segregated El Paso, Texas, and attended St. Joseph’s Catholic School, where she was taught by the Sisters of Loretto, an order dedicated to promoting justice and peace. Her father was a veteran of two wars and her mother broke many glass ceilings and racial barriers. After grammar school, Rep. Lee moved to San Fernando, California, and worked with the local NAACP to integrate her high school cheerleading squad. As a single mother raising two sons, she attended Mills College and received public assistance while building a better life for her family. As president of Mills College’s Black Student Union, she invited Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to Congress, to speak on campus. As a result of this meeting, Rep. Lee registered to vote for the first time and worked on Rep. Chisholm’s historic presidential campaign, including serving as her delegate at the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami, Florida.

Rep. Lee received her master’s of social work from the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in psychiatric social work. During her graduate work, she founded the Community Health Alliance for Neighborhood Growth and Education (CHANGE, Inc.), which provided mental health services to many of the East Bay’s most vulnerable individuals. In 1975, she joined the staff of Congressman Ron Dellums, where she eventually rose from an intern to chief of staff. After leaving Rep. Dellums’ office in 1987, she founded a facilities management company that grew to employ more than 500 people. In 1990, she was elected to the California State Assembly, where she served until 1996, when she was elected to the State Senate. As a California legislator, Rep. Lee authored 67 bills and resolutions that were signed into law by Republican Governor Pete Wilson. This legislation addressed a wide spectrum of issues, including public safety, education, health care, and environmental protections. As the first African American woman elected to the State Senate from Northern California, she created and presided over the California Commission on the Status of African American Males and the California Legislative Black Caucus, while working to defeat the punitive “three strikes law.” Rep. Lee also served as a strong advocate for women in the legislature, where she authored and passed

the first California Violence Against Women Act and served as a member of the California Commission on the Status of Women.

Peter R. MacLeish, Ph.D., received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, and his Ph.D. and postdoctoral training from the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. He was promoted to assistant professor in neurobiology and moved to the Rockefeller University with Nobel laureate, Torsten Wiesel, where he was subsequently promoted to associate professor. He was recruited to Cornell University Medical College as professor of physiology in ophthalmology and founding director of research of the Margaret M. Dyson Vision Research Institute. He was recruited to Morehouse School of Medicine, where he founded the Neuroscience Institute and the Department of Neurobiology and continues his pioneering work on the electrophysiological properties of mature retinal cells. He served on the Advisory Committee to the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), on the Board of Scientific Counselors at the National Institute of Mental Health, was a member of the NIH BRAIN Working Group, and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Bhashkar Mazumder, Ph.D., is a senior economist and research advisor in the economic research department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. He has done research on intergenerational economic mobility, the long-term effects of poor health early in life, and Black-white gaps in human capital development. His research has been published in academic journals such as the Journal of Political Economy, the American Economic Review, and the Review of Economics and Statistics. Dr. Mazumder received a B.A. in political science from New York University, an M.A. in economics from New York University, and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Moseka Medlock, M.A., is a native New Yorker and a proud Spelman College and Columbia University graduate. She began her career in education as a Teach for America core member, where she taught fourth grade at a low-income school in Houston, Texas. Upon completing her Teach for America commitment, she continued to work in education for more than 20 years. Ms. Moseka’s roles included elementary teacher, college access coordinator at a Title 1 high school, regional financial aid advisor for a Tier 1 research institution, and coordinator of recruitment and retention for

a Historically Black College and University College of Education. Her experiences in education have culminated in her current role as programs director for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund’s (TMFC) Teacher Quality and Retention Program (TQRP). TQRP is a 5-year fellowship that provides year-round professional development and support for a diverse group of new and aspiring educators from TMCF member schools from their junior year in undergraduate throughout their third year in the classroom.

Brittany L. Mosby, Ed.D., is the director of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Success programs and initiatives at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, and the nation’s first higher education professional within a state agency focused solely on increasing the capacity of the state’s HBCUs, both public and private. As director, Dr. Mosby develops policy, programming, and partnerships that foster student success, facilitate institutions’ ability to fulfill their missions, and further the state’s higher education attainment goals. Prior to joining the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, she was a tenured associate professor of mathematics at Pellissippi State Community College, where she also chaired the introductory statistics curricular redesign committee and led data-driven student success efforts. While at Pellissippi State she obtained more than $50,000 in academic state grants and co-wrote a successful U.S. Department of Education Title III grant in 2016, securing more than $1 million in funds for faculty professional development. In her more than 10-year career in higher education, she has championed access to a quality education and the pursuit of equitable postsecondary outcomes for all students.

A third-generation Spelman College graduate, Dr. Mosby is a direct beneficiary of the intergenerational social mobility made possible by HBCUs and is passionate about preserving the legacy and promoting the enduring sustainability of the unparalleled HBCU experience. She also received a master of science in mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University, and a doctor of education in higher education policy and leadership as a Peabody Honors Scholar at Vanderbilt University.

Sabrena Myers is a third-year medical student at Duke University School of Medicine. She is applying into obstetrics-gynecology residency for matriculation in fall 2023. She is in the process of obtaining a master’s in clinical research and a certificate in health disparities research. Her research interests are preeclampsia, preterm birth prevention, racial disparities in maternal health, and medical education. She is committed to being a part of the

community of physicians working to mitigate barriers to proven preterm birth therapies to ensure healthy beginnings for all mothers and babies.

Favour Nerrise is a first-year electrical engineering Ph.D. student at Stanford University. Her doctoral research is supported by the Stanford Graduate Fellowship, EDGE Fellowship, and NeuroTech Training Program Fellowship. She holds bachelor’s degrees in computer engineering and mathematics and minors in Arabic and global engineering leadership from the University of Maryland (UMD), College Park. At Stanford University, she serves as an officer of the Graduate Students in Electrical Engineering Committee; a member of the Electrical Engineering Culture, Equity, and Inclusion Committee; a member of the School of Engineering’s Engineering Students for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; a Peer Learning Consultant for the Center of Teaching and Learning; and a Data Analyst Intern for the KNOW Systemic Racism project at Stanford Libraries.

Ms. Nerrise’s current research interest is in using attractor neural networks to model memory state-to-state transitions during spatial navigation in mice. She also has interests in building novel neurotechnologies, closed-loop adaptive control systems, and applying deep learning. She has previously conducted research with NASA Harvest on estimating cropland using machine learning (ML) techniques, with the Battle Data Lab on visualization recommender systems, with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in novelty-based targeting for Mars Rovers, and with the federal and intelligence community for ML and agent-based modeling for hurricane forecast trajectories. When not tinkering in the lab, she is dedicated to building communities, teaching, and global engineering. Having been a member and leader of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) for more than 11 years, she is currently serving her second term as the national chairperson for NSBE. She has previously served as the Region II chairperson, Region II treasurer and finance chair, UMD chapter president, UMD finance chair, and various NSBE Jr. chapter leadership roles. She teaches K–12 students throughout the year in artificial intelligence/ML and core STEM programs. Ms. Nerrise has traveled to more than 22 countries by age 22 and speaks more than five languages. She studied abroad in Australia as a Gilman Scholar during her undergraduate studies and completed a service project that highlighted the role of rural and native community values in adopting and maintaining sustainable information and communications technology.

Marc Nivet, Ed.D., M.B.A., is the executive vice president for institutional advancement at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center, where he provides strategic vision and oversight in development and alumni relations; communications, marketing, and public affairs; government affairs; technology development; community and corporate relations; and institutional equity and access. Prior to his role at UT Southwestern, Dr. Nivet served as a member of the executive leadership team of the Association of American Medical Colleges, where he provided leadership on issues surrounding community engagement, diversity, and health equity at medical schools and teaching hospitals across the United States and Canada. Dr. Nivet has spent more than 20 years in academic medicine developing creative program initiatives and innovative approaches to advance the mission of excellence in research, education, and patient care. Dr. Nivet earned his doctoral degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.B.A. from George Washington University’s School of Business. He is a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and a former president of the National Association of Medical Minority Educators.

Andrew (Niyi) Owolabi is a Mechanical Design Engineer at Tesla, based in Sunnyvale, California. Prior to Tesla, he served as an intern and as a Mechanical Engineer at Coral Labs, Inc., a consumer electronics company specializing in smart automation for personal care. He is a graduate of Olin College of Engineering, where he was President of the institution’s National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) chapter. At Olin, he also help found the MIX (or the Multicultural Innovators Experience), a professional group for students of color in engineering.

Tania Small, M.D., is vice president, Global Medical Affairs Therapeutic Area head of oncology at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). She has built and leads an organization of approximately 600 professionals focused on patient-driven science dedicated to breaking down the barriers to access and support for all people with cancer, regardless of their background or location. On behalf of GSK’s global R&D organization, she also serves as sponsor of the R&D Inclusion and Diversity Council. Dr. Small was trained in hematology/oncology and bone marrow transplant at Columbia University, where she also completed a genetic research fellowship. She subsequently focused on both hematology and stem cell transplant at New York Presbyterian, Columbia University.

Dr. Small has done research in oncology, hematology, gene therapy, and stem cell transplantation and received multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health for her translational research in gene therapy and regenerative medicine. In previous roles with Novartis Oncology and Ipsen, she successfully led the launch programs of multiple oncology therapies while overseeing both clinical development programs and medical affairs programs. She has also led many patient-centered and diversity initiatives in previous roles, working closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Congress, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology to improve the diversity enrollment into oncology clinical trials and elderly programs. She is passionate about creating a world-class oncology program that will successfully deliver the transformational medicines needed to revolutionize the experience and outcomes of patients.

Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., is chairman of the Washington, D.C.-based Sullivan Alliance to Transform America’s Health Professions. He served as chair of the President’s Commission on Historically Black Colleges and Universities from 2002 to 2009 and was co-chair of the President’s Commission on HIV and AIDS from 2001 to 2006. As secretary of health and human services from 1989 to 1993, he released Healthy People 2000 (a blueprint for health promotion/disease prevention), waged a vigorous campaign against tobacco use, urged increased seat belt use in vehicles, and improved Food and Drug Administration food labels. In 1975 Dr. Sullivan was the founding dean and president of Morehouse School of Medicine, serving for more than two decades. He is now president emeritus.

A native of Atlanta, Dr. Sullivan graduated magna cum laude from Morehouse College and earned his medical degree, cum laude, from Boston University School of Medicine. His postgraduate training included internship and residency in internal medicine at New York Hospital–Cornell Medical Center (1958–1960), a clinical fellowship in pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital (1960–1961), and a research fellowship in hematology at the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory of Harvard Medical School, Boston City Hospital (1961–1963). He is certified in internal medicine and hematology.

Dr. Sullivan has served on the faculties of Harvard Medical School, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and Boston University School of Medicine. He is co-author (with Marybeth Gasman) of The Morehouse Mystique: Becoming a Doctor at the Nation’s Newest African American Medical School (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012), and

his autobiography (with David Chanoff) is Breaking Ground: My Life in Medicine (University of Georgia Press, 2014).

Lamont Terrell, Ph.D., graduated salutatorian from Texas Southern University (TSU) as a Frederick Douglass Honors scholar earning a B.S. in chemistry in 1995. While at TSU, his life as a research scientist began doing undergraduate research focusing on the synthesis of inorganic compounds with environmental applications. He earned his Ph.D. in 2001 in organic chemistry from Michigan State University (MSU) under the direction and guidance of Professor Robert Maleczka. His graduate studies consisted of the total synthesis of the antileukemic natural product amphidinolide A and the development of catalytic tin hydride reactions. Upon completion of his graduate studies at MSU, he continued his synthetic training with a 2-year postdoctoral stint with Professor Barry Trost at Stanford University. The focus of his postdoctoral studies was the development of a catalytic dinuclear zinc asymmetric Mannich reaction. He began his career in drug discovery as a medicinal chemist at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in 2003 in its cardiovascular medicinal chemistry group. He spent 11 years doing small molecule lead optimization primarily focusing on cardiovascular disease targets. Outside of leading science, Dr. Terrell is passionately involved with community and outreach efforts. He has been involved with the recruitment of scientists at all levels into the chemistry community. He leads the GSK chemistry recruitment team for minority conferences and serves as the lead for the African American Alliance employee resource group in the Delaware Valley. He is a leader in GSK’s inclusion and diversity efforts and a member of the R&D Inclusion council. In 2017, he decided to step away from doing science to lead the U.S. R&D Early Talent Programs and head GSK’s diversity recruitment initiative for its U.S. Pharma R&D business.

Tamara Thompson, M.B.A., is the assistant vice president of programs for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF). She joined TMCF in March 2020 and currently leads efforts focused on TMCF’s partnership with a host of corporate partners spanning the technology, education, and consumer goods industry segments, including Apple, Strada Education, Novartis, Mondelex, Hennessy, and others. In addition, she has led programmatic efforts for TMCF’s annual Leadership Institute, which draws more than 400 students who engage with dedicated TMCF partners in career development opportunities. Prior to joining TMCF, Ms. Thompson’s career involved leadership in the financial, marketing, and product strategy

arenas. Her career began in corporate accounting within the financial services sector and later expanded to product marketing and strategy. She has led strategy and marketing efforts for product portfolios with values near $1 billion, including L’eggs Hosiery, Hanes Underwear, and Bali Intimate Apparel brands. Within her marketing career at Sara Lee Corporation/Hanesbrands, she also had the opportunity to lead investor engagement activity during an assignment in Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, supporting corporate earnings activity with senior leadership. Ms. Thompson has always had a keen sense and passion for career development and has a proven track record of creating personal development plans for teams she has led and championed development, diversity, and inclusion initiatives activity across organizations. She is a graduate of Duke University with a B.A. in economics and a certificate in markets and marketing studies. She also earned an M.B.A., with a concentration in marketing, from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.

She is very involved in her community with a passion for improving the lives of the next generation of leaders. She serves on the advisory committee for the Winston-Salem State University Math and Science Education Network (MSEN) STEM program, where she is chairperson of the Scholarship Committee and leads efforts to bring meaningful STEM programming to students.

Iris R. Wagstaff, Ph.D., is a chemist, educator, social scientist, mentor, and science policy advisor. She currently serves as a STEM program director at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), where she manages a $15 million portfolio initiative focused on broadening participation in STEM and advancing innovation capacity at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). In that role, she serves as principal investigator on four grants funded by the National Science Foundation. Prior to AAAS, she served as an AAAS Science and Technology Policy fellow at the Department of Justice National Institute of Justice where she developed and led an agency-wide strategic diversity and inclusion initiative. She has a B.S. and M.S. in chemistry and a Ph.D. in science education research and policy. She worked as a research chemist at the Dow Chemical Company for 15 years before transitioning to education and has more than 20 years of experience leading diversity-focused efforts in all four workforce sectors: industry, academia, federal government, and nonprofit. She serves on several advisory boards that include the National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE); the American Chemical

Society’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Respect; and the HBCU STEM Undergraduate Success Research Center. She is the Founder of Wagstaff STEM Solutions, an education and diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting firm. She has received several honors that include the NOBCChE Award for Mentoring and the Women of Color in STEM Education Award.

Chad Womack, Ph.D., is the national director of STEM initiatives at the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), headquartered in Washington, D.C. Dr. Womack’s work portfolio includes the UNCF Merck Fellowship Program, UNCF STEM Scholars Program, and UNCF Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship (ICE) Initiative for Historically Black Colleges and Universities communities. More recently, Dr. Womack led the sourcing, development, and implementation of the UNCF STEM Scholars Program representing a $48 million and 10-year commitment to support 500 academically talented African American high school students pursuing STEM as majors in college and careers in the technology industry. Prior to joining the UNCF, Dr. Womack co-founded the America21 Project and DC Innovates, both innovation-based community and economic development nonprofit organizations dedicated to empowering metropolitan centers and underserved communities through STEM education, tech entrepreneurship, and access to capital. Dr. Womack also founded the Philadelphia Biotechnology and Life Sciences Institute as a nonprofit initiative dedicated to addressing unmet educational and workforce development needs of the city, and is a co-founder of 3GEN Vaccines, a nanobiotechnology company. Prior to his entrepreneurial ventures, Dr. Womack completed several research fellowships at the National Institutes of Health, in the National Institutes for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Vaccine Research Center and at the Harvard AIDS Institute and the Harvard School of Public Health in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases. He earned his Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the Morehouse School of Medicine and is a proud graduate of Morehouse College, where he was a biology and chemistry major.