October 2023 Empower

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Monday, October 30, 2023 (0 Comments)
Posted by: Jennifer Riggs

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October 2023

Welcome to GWIS Empower! GWIS Empower seeks to provide career and leadership advice for women in science along with member-generated content. This issue features an article on a breakthrough in Huntington's disease from Dr. Nancy Wexler and her group and a enlightening DEI article discussing how scientific research can be inclusive of the indigenous community. We have an annoucement for the honorary membership award application. Additionally, we share information on two new scholarship opportunitites, Maggie's way and career development grants.

Update

GWIS Webinar on The Untold Challenges Faced by Female Scientists When Paving Their Career Path

Date: Thursday, September 28th

Time: 6:00pm BST/2:00pm AST/1:00pm ET/12:00pm CT/10:00am PST

Are there hidden challenges that we are facing as female scientists when we pave your career path? You bring the coffee, we'll bring the conversation! On Thursday, September 28th, at 6:00pm BST/2:00pm AST/1:00pm ET/12:00pm CT/10:00am PST, we will host our conversation about the untold challenges faced by female scientists when paving their career path. We’ll chat with Dr. Maria Alicia Carrillo Sepulveda, an Associate Professor at the Department of Biomedical Sciences of the New York Institute of Technology (NYITCOM).

Questions? Email mentoring@gwis.org

Haunted by a Gene

Dr. Nancy Wexler transformed biomedical research into a "team-sport", and her relentlessness paid out. In 1993, after collecting 2,000+ blood samples from a Venezuelan family, Dr. Wexler and her teams found the gene that causes Huntington's disease. This discovery made it possible to develop a test for people at risk to know whether they would develop the disease or not. Huntington's is a hereditary disease that affects the brain resulting in death, and the test posed an ethical dilemma. Dr. Wexler, who disclosed to have Huntington's disease herself, never took it. Read more about this remarkable women in the New York Times article:

Read now

Indigenous communities have contributed a lot to furthering Western medicine, by providing microbiome samples. As a proxy for "non-industrialized" microbiomes, those samples are used to investigate new solutions for chronic diseases that plague people living in industrialized areas. Despite their "microbiome donations", Indigenous communities rarely benefit from this microbiome research. Laura Weyrich, associate professor of anthropology and bioethics at Penn State, and colleagues discuss "ethical microbiome research" and best practices for scientists working with Indigenous communities in a Q&A article.

Link to article

Want to connect on-line with other women scientists? Join the GWIS Slack channel. GWIS also has a private LinkedIn group for connecting with nearly 2,000 women scientists to share interesting news, job opportunities, and more! Want to form a small group? Contact the GWIS Media group to access our private forums and help you solicit fellow GWIS participants!

Inviting Nominations for GWIS Honorary Membership Award

Inviting nominations for outstanding women scientists in the following categories:

The Bette Barnes Promising Young Scientist Award
The Florence R. Sabin Research Excellence Award
The Jean E. Simmons Science Education Excellence Award
Science Communications Award

Deadline: December 22, 2023 by 11:59 PM EST.
Fill out the nomination form online using the link below.

Apply Here

Scholarship Opportunities

Maggie's Way- International Women's Scholarship

This scholarship honors the life of Malgorzata “Maggie” Kwiecien, a polish engineer, and support female, international high school or undergraduate students that pursue a STEM degree in the U.S.. Applicants are required to write a short assay about challenges faced by international students. The winnter receives $5,000 and the deadline is November 1, 2023.

Apply Here

Career Development Grants

Sponsored by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), the career development grants will support women with a Bachelors degree (received before June 30, 2016) that are advancing/changing or re-entering their academic careers in a STEM field. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and submit a proposal as well as supporting documents by November 15, 2023.

Apply Here

Get Involved with GWIS!

Support and be part of a growing network of women scientists.

Join or Renew

About GWIS

Founded in 1921, Graduate Women in Science is an inter-disciplinary society of scientists who collectively seek to advance the participation and recognition of women in science and to foster research through grants, awards and fellowships. We comprise over 20 active chapters of more than 800 women who are "United in Friendship through Science" to support and inspire member professional goals and mutual appreciation of science. Learn more at www.gwis.org.

Contact GWIS

PO Box 7
Mullica Hill, NJ 08062
www.gwis.org

President
Amanda Koenig

Editor
Courtney Ragle

Membership Secretary
Ogochukwu Ozotta

GWIS Empower Copy Editor
Amy Zheng
GWIS Empower Content Editor
Selina Bruckner

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October 2023 Empower