Meet the 2022 JEDI Champions

Higher education affords immense privilege. The knowledge, resources, and networks gained are instrumental in career (and community!) development. For this reason, I’ve spent my career helping individuals from communities that have been systematically excluded from academia gain entry. However, higher education also causes harm. Race, gender, and power dynamics determine how much capital trainees can actually build and maintain. From discrimination to the lack of institutional support and accountability, integration into academia often requires a disconnection from self, which undermines our flourishing, conceals our best selves, and preserves systemic oppression. Now, I focus on cultural transformation. We need to reimagine the spaces we occupy; challenge tradition, expect mess, and collectively build ethical futures.

Outside of my postdoc research, I share educational videos on social media apps such as Instagram and TikTok. In my time on these platforms, I've connected with extraordinary and enthusiastic students across the globe, though I have learned that opportunities to engage in science are not equally accessible to all. To address this, I founded the Aspiring Scientists Coalition, an organization that provides guidance and support to students in more than 75 countries. ASC hosts free online meetings including Q&As with professionals in various fields, networking sessions, and research presentations. I also lead a video series on social media called “Scientips” which provides free career advice to students globally, and offer free resources on my website such as a CV template, sample research poster, and PhD interview schedule. I strongly believe in the importance of lending a hand to the next generation, and it is critical that this support is extended to all communities, regardless of socioeconomic, educational or racial factors.

I owe my success, academic and otherwise, to the myriad of shoulders that have supported me throughout my life. As such, my commitment to community is a homage to those who invested in my journey. I work towards establishing equity while empowering diverse and underrepresented groups. This year, I take pride in working with the Aspiring Scientists Coalition’s international platform and sharing how socioeconomic and racial disparities are unjust risk factors for poor health outcomes. My work also includes collaborating on a documentary series with Westbrook media and MomBAE, driven to educate broad communities on the Black maternal healthcare crisis.

When I immigrated to the US alone at 15, being a scientist was not my dream. I barely understood English and struggled with low income and family separation. But my teachers welcomed me, encouraged me, and gave me a community where I felt belonged. This sense of belonging is what I want to create at Stanford. As the peer-mentoring Someone Like Me program coordinator, lab mentor, and postdoc representative for the DEI Education and Standard Action Planning Workgroup, I want to care for those with less power and “invisible,” by creating new institution infrastructures or by simply having open-hearted conversations.

My motivations in working on these issues is to provide community and resources for students and trainees that are at pivotal moments in their careers. As someone coming from a historically excluded background, I find motivation by thinking about how today's efforts could have helped a past version of myself, and how they could help someone in a similar position today.

Achievement of excellence in diversity and inclusion resonates as a defining characteristic at the intersection of my academic experience and career goals. I view social justice as personal and social growth informed from marginalized scholarship including critical race theory, intersectional theory, and decoloniality. As such, my JEDI work is motivated by existing community based efforts to make our society more fair, just, and equitable. A father of Epidemiology, W.E.B. Du Bois described the double consciousness, in which scientific knowledge is enhanced by the unique perspective of scientists from structurally marginalized communities. As an Epidemiologist, I work for equitable representation through mentorship and advocacy to improve research and science dissemination that rebuilds medical trust and improves vast racial health disparities.

I am passionate about creating inclusive spaces and increasing diversity in STEM. I strive to include DEI principles in my research and community outreach. My scientific research investigates the effects of environmental contaminants on the human gut microbiome in an underserved population in Bangladesh. I have also performed research with the d.school/School of Education’s REDLab Research in Education Design team, focusing on increasing accessibility to STEM and design thinking. On campus, I serve on the SURPAS JEDI committee and co-organize the Better Ally event series, a monthly workshop focused on improving allyship to marginalized communities. This work was awarded the Second Place Poster Prize at the National Postdoctoral Association Conference, and I hope will serve as an event model for other postdoctoral institutions. I am also active in the Women’s Community Center and mentor graduate students from underrepresented groups.