Getting Everyone to their Destination: Dr. Lyric Jorgenson

In this episode, I interviewed Dr. Lyric Jorgenson, the Associate Director of Science Policy and the Director of the Office of Science Policy at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Per the ⁠NIH Office of Science Policy website⁠, she provides senior leadership in the development and oversight of cross-cutting biomedical research policies and programs considered to be of high-priority to NIH and the United States Government. Prior to this role, she served in numerous roles across the agency, including Deputy Director of the Office of Science Policy, and has led the development of numerous high impact science and policy initiatives such as the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).

Giving People Power to Change : Dr. Beronda Montgomery

In this episode, I interviewed Dr. Beronda Montgomery, an amazing mentor, leader, and author of “Lessons from Plants”. Per her website, she is a writer, researcher, and scholar who pursues a common theme of understanding how individuals perceive, respond to, and are impacted by the environments in which they exist. Her primary laboratory-based research is focused on the responses of photosynthetic organisms (i.e., plants and cyanobacteria) to external light cues. Additionally, she pursues this theme in the context of effective mentoring and leadership of individuals, and the role of innovative leaders in supporting success.

Hearing it from the Top: Dr. Neali Lucas

In this episode, I interviewed Dr. Neali Lucas. She has been at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for 14 years, where she is currently the Senior Science Advisor in the Office of the Commissioner, Office of the Chief Scientist. She was the first African-American scientist to graduate from her graduate program at the University of Michigan in 2007, and we had a rich discussion about equity and inclusion in STEM and the importance of hearing about how important these topics are from the top.

Impact Through Science Policy: Dr. Adriana Bankston

In this episode, guest co-host Rami Major and I interviewed Dr. Adriana Bankston. Per her website, she is an advocate for scientific research and innovation at the federal level. For close to a decade, Adriana has worked to nurture U.S. competitiveness in science and technology through a number of roles with universities, non-profits and scientific societies. Adriana works at the intersection of scientific research, higher education and STEM workforce development with a focus on science policy to advance our nation forward through evidence-based practices and empower the next generation to get involved.

Finding your Science Communication Identity : Dr. Pallav Kosuri

In this episode, I interviewed Dr. Pallav Kosuri. Per Pallav’s website, he studied physics in college at KTH in Stockholm, Sweden (where he’s from). As a PhD student in the lab of Julio Fernandez at Columbia University, he studied the mechanics of protein folding and discovered that we can modulate this process to alter the elasticity of muscles. He then moved to Harvard University as a postdoc in the lab of Xiaowei Zhuang, where he used DNA to invent and build nanosensors that make it possible to see molecular movements.