Meet the 2023 JEDI Champions

My research aims to understand neural mechanisms contributing to suboptimal outcomes in women (e.g., PTSD). Another vital facet of my research involves identifying social factors contributing to these outcomes and developing interventions to improve well-being and productivity (e.g., enhancing belonging). I foremost utilize portable fNIRS neuroimaging to elucidate single-brain and inter-brain functions in naturalistic environments. I also facilitate evidence-based empowerment workshops to increase self-awareness, work productivity, self-efficacy, and belonging among women scientists at Stanford University. As a NATO Human Factors Specialist, I contribute to women leadership and recommendations for human factors experimental standards for all 31 partner countries.

In my vision of inclusive diversity, equity, and justice within academia, institutional and faculty-level commitment to curiosity, equity, and inclusion translates into classrooms and research labs where trainees, particularly individuals who are underrepresented in STEM, learn, feel belonging, and lead in their chosen career paths. My background in educational studies and experiences as an instructor for programming workshops, a Stanford grant writing coach, and a member of a task force focused on improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in the microbial sciences have reinforced my dedication to promoting an equitable and inclusive research and teaching environment as a faculty member.

My motivation is a hopeful one in that one day, I will not have to spend the majority of my time as being the "only." This inherent motivation to diversity STEM and academia drives me to pursue JEDI-related activities to create a more equitable society. My greatest passion related to JEDI work is helping create frameworks that can modify a broken system and mentoring undergraduate and graduate trainees to achieve their dreams, whatever they may be.

Wanting to help others became one of my core values at a very early age. Throughout my life, I have seen people hurt due to the mere fact of not fitting restrictive societal standards, and I cannot help but take their pain personally. I am a queer, Hispanic woman in STEM and I experience the lack of representation firsthand, which combined with a deep interest in better understanding people around me makes me want to turn our society into a more inclusive place, starting with the tiny bubble of privilege I find myself in.

I believe that building an inclusive culture is critical to achieving true justice and diversity in STEM. I have found that changing a culture can start small, by questioning daily practices, norms, and values, but grows to have a big impact. I owe my scientific career to dedicated mentors who have championed my work, and I strive to empower other women and minoritized scientists by supporting them in kind. I am constantly learning from the students that I work with – their passion, creativity, and kindness inspires me to build the community of STEM that they deserve.

I have always found community outreach and mentoring to be an extremely rewarding experience. I am a mentor for the Stanford Academic Transition Advising Program (ATAP) and serve on the Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee. I have had the great pleasure of being a guest speaker for local schools and I look forward to helping build an inclusive community as a facilitator for the Pathways to Neuroscience program in the coming year. I am inspired and motivated by the DEI efforts of faculty, staff and leadership in my department.

I come from a low income family and began my academic journey in community college. There, my classmates were richly diverse: of many nationalities, young and old, parents or caregivers, international students, first generation college students—the majority of us low income, serious, and working. I had passionate science teachers, but there was no research on campus and I began conducting research only after I transferred to a large public university. Quickly, I found that I was behind my peers who had started in the lab as freshmen. I didn’t believe I could get into a graduate program, so I worked in industry after college. Yet, my curiosity for neuroscience drew me back to academia and to inspiring mentors who believed in me and supported my dreams. I am driven to pay forward their gift of mentorship to the community of students I come from, many of whom face greater challenges than I and who are well deserving of opportunity.