2020
Makers and Innovators Tackle Health Issues in Their Communities
Makers, innovators and entrepreneurs should not let the COVID-19 pandemic stand in the way of putting their ideas into action – now is the time to pursue innovations that address the impacts of COVID-19 and other health issues in one’s own community, said a panel of experts during a AAAS-hosted webinar.
The July 30 webinar was the most recent in a series hosted by a AAAS program that supports students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) as they harness technology and creativity to bring their ideas to life.
Andrea Korte of Science gives us the full story here.
New Members of AAAS’ SEA Change Commit to Equity Through Systemic Change
Three universities are the first charter members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s SEA Change initiative, which supports educational institutions as they systematically transform themselves into diverse, equitable and inclusive spaces that recruit, retain and advance the full range of talent in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine.
The new SEA Change charter members are North Carolina State University; University of California, Davis; and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Charter membership is “a public statement of commitment to success for all in STEMM, a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion within the institution,” said Shirley Malcom, director of SEA Change and a senior advisor for AAAS.
Read the complete story by Andrea Korte of Science here.
Diverse Students Display Inventions at HBCU Showcase
A social media platform for online education, a smart cane that warns visually impaired users of objects along their path, and a mobile app that connects customers to restaurants eager to distribute surplus food were just a few of the inventions that student innovators from historically black colleges and universities displayed at a recent showcase.
Andrea Korte of Science tells us the story of the Making and Innovation Showcase.
STEM Excellence at the Forefront of Combating COVID-19
When will the COVID-19 vaccine be ready? Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett has particularly interesting insights, since she is at the center of COVID-19 vaccine development at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She’s a young black woman who is dealing with constant pressure to beat the odds and get a COVID-19 vaccine produced ahead of schedule.
Read the complete story by Alexandra Kirby Scammell of AAAS here.
Emerging Researchers Program Unites Underrepresented Students with STEM Leaders
A webinar hosted by AAAS on May 11 featured Kizzmekia Corbett sharing her journey to becoming a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health and leader of the coronavirus vaccine efforts at NIH’s Vaccine Research Center. During her interview by Iris Wagstaff of AAAS, Corbett reinforced the importance mentoring played in advancing her career and shared with ERN students what she wished she had known as a college student herself.
Read the complete story by Andrea Korte of AAAS here.
STEM Excellence at the Forefront of Combatting COVID-19
During the May 11th webinar, “STEM Excellence at the Forefront of Combatting COVID-19,” presented by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, with NIH’s lead scientist on the COVID-19 vaccine Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett and Dr. Iris R. Wagstaff, AAAS STEM Program Director and ERN Conference Lead, Corbett talked about her work as a scientist and answered questions from Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference in STEM student participants.
Read the complete story from the St. Louis American here.
Administration COVID-19 Updates on HBCU and Minority Health Funding Announcements
$40 Million in COVID-19 Funding Available to Minority, Rural and Socially Vulnerable Communities for Linkages to Services, Information and Education
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health (OMH) announced a competitive funding opportunity to invest up to $40 million for the development and coordination of a strategic network of national, state, territorial, tribal and local organizations to deliver important COVID-19-related information to racial and ethnic minority, rural and socially vulnerable communities hardest hit by the pandemic.
HHS Awards $20 Million to Combat COVID-19 Pandemic through Telehealth
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded $20 million to increase telehealth access and infrastructure for providers and families to help prevent and respond to COVID-19.
Nearly $1.4 Billion in Additional CARES Act Relief Funds to HBCUs, Minority Serving Institutions, and Colleges and Universities Serving Low-Income Students
The U.S. Department of Education announced nearly $1.4 billion in additional CARES Act funds that will be directed to HBCUs and MSIs to support students with cash grants and ensure learning continues for all during the COVID-19 pandemic.
HUD Allocates Second Wave of Relief Funds, Over Half a Billion Dollars to Help Protect Low-Income Americans
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson today announced his Department will allocate $685 million in COVID-19 relief funding to help low-income Americans residing in public housing. The funding, made available by the CARES Act legislation President Trump signed into law on March 27, 2020, will be awarded to Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) across the Nation.
Economic Impact Payments Continue to be Sent, Check IRS.gov for Answers to Common Questions
As Economic Impact Payments continue to be successfully delivered, the Internal Revenue Service today reminds taxpayers that IRS.gov includes answers to many common questions, including help to use two recently launched Economic Impact Payment tools.
CDC COVID-19 Forecasts
The federal government is working closely with state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments, and other public health partners, to respond to this situation. Forecasts of deaths will help inform public health decision-making by projecting the likely impact in coming weeks.
DHS and HHS Civil Rights Stakeholder Teleconference RE: COVID-19
FEMA’s Office of Equal Rights will continue hosting regular teleconferences concerning the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response, to share information and to respond to civil rights-related concerns and questions. The next call is scheduled for Wednesday, May 6, 2020, 2:00-3:30PM (Eastern). Please call in 10 minutes prior to the start time.
For the most up-to-date information, please visit the CDC’s website: www.coronavirus.gov.
How Early-career Scientists are Coping with COVID-19 Challenges and Fears
Daphne Ling—a Ph.D. student in neuroscience at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada—has remained on campus in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. She lives in a university residence and has been working from there, trying to write two manuscripts.
Read the complete Science news story by Elisabeth Pain here.
UConn Health Doctor Publishes First Study on COVID-19 and Race
You may have heard how COVID-19 is hitting the black community hard. But how deep does that impact go? For starters, the average age of a death related to COVID-19 is 81. But for the black community, it’s 72. Already disproportionately affected by poverty, incarceration, and access to healthcare, now the black community is being impacted by the virus.
Matt Caron shares the full story on FOX61.
Black Scientist Says He’s Two Weeks Away From Testing COVID-19 Drug Created in an HBCU Lab
A scientist at Meharry Medical College, a historically black institution in Nashville, Tennessee, says he is two weeks away from testing an anti-viral drug that may prevent COVID-19, according to NBC News. The scientist, Dr. Donald Alcendor, also worked on a successful anti-virus to the Zika virus a few years ago.
Read the complete Black Enterprise story by Cedric Thornton.
Who’s Hit Hardest By COVID-19? Why Obesity, Stress And Race All Matter
While many people experience mild illness, 89% of people with COVID-19 who were sick enough to be hospitalized had at least one chronic condition. About half had high blood pressure and obesity, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And about a third had diabetes and a third had cardiovascular disease. So, what explains this?
Read the complete news story by Allison Aubrey on NPR.
Emerging Researchers Find Community, Inspiration at 10th Annual Conference
Filmmaker Crystal Emery has often been a reluctant member of “the one and only club.” Emery – director and producer of the 2016 documentary feature “Black Women in Medicine,” founder and CEO of URU The Right to Be Inc., and a AAAS IF/THEN Ambassador – has had the experience of being the only woman, the only person of color or the only person with a disability in a space, she told attendees of the Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference in STEM in Washington, D.C.
“Now I’m sure everybody in here has had the experience of being in ‘the one and only club,’” Emery said. Being the default representative for an underrepresented group can be a challenging burden, she added.
Yet Emery urged attendees to be their unique selves and continue pursuing work that they find meaningful.
Read the complete AAAS news story by Andrea Korte here.
Local Biology Student Wins First Place at National Conference
ST. LOUIS – A Harris-Stowe State University senior studying biology won first place in the Ecology category for his undergraduate oral presentation at the 2020 Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference in Washington D.C. on Saturday.
Derek McFarland, 23, a National Institute of Health-National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases STEP-UP fellow was one of 22 Harris-Stowe students who attended the ERN Conference.
Check out the news broadcast from FOX2Now here.
HSSU Senior Derek McFarland Wins First Place at 2020 Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference.
A Harris-Stowe State University senior studying biology won first place in the Ecology category for his undergraduate oral presentation at the ERN Conference in Washington D.C. on Saturday.
Derek McFarland, 23, a National Institute of Health-National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases STEP-UP fellow was one of 22 Harris-Stowe students who attended the ERN Conference.
Read the complete article from the St. Louis American here.
SWE’s Researcher Contributions to National Conversations Convening’s Held by NASA, NSF, and Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference in STEM
To advocate for the advancement of the engineering field, SWE’s Senior Manager of Research, Roberta Rincon, has actively engaged with other researchers around conversations to increase the participation of women in STEM.
SWE was invited to attend two different NSF-funded events in Washington, DC, in early 2020. Both events were aimed at strengthening broadening participation in STEM. As the Senior Manager of Research, I had the privilege of representing SWE. I want to share a few items that I learned as a result of my attendance that I believe are of interest to a number of our SWE members.
Read the complete article from the Society of Women Engineers here.
Kapiʻolani CC Research Students Recognized at National STEM Conference
Six Kapiʻolani Community College students participated in the Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference in STEM held in Washington D.C., February 6–8, and three received awards for their research projects.
Undergraduate research experience (URE) students Jennifer Chinen, Sheri Lei Marzan, Brent Shigano, Kiyomi Sanders, Alden Fernandez, and Keanu Rochette Yu-Tsuen competed with four-year university students from across the country and presented their research in engineering, physics, ecology and environmental and earth sciences.
Read the complete article from University of Hawaii News.
UAPB Physics Student to Present Research at STEM Conference
Kayleigh Johnson, a junior Physics major at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, will present her research on Bacterial Motility and Chemotaxis at Different Concentrations of Magnesium Sulfate at the Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
The conference is hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Programs and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Human Resource Development (HRD), within the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR).
Set for February 6-8, 2020 in Washington, D.C., the conference is aimed at college and university undergraduate and graduate students who participate in programs funded by the NSF HRD Unit, including underrepresented minorities and persons with disabilities. The objectives of the conference are to help undergraduate and graduate students to enhance their science communication skills and better understand how to prepare for science careers in a global workforce.
Read the complete article from The Pine Bluff Commercial here.