The next person that searches for Black women in computational biology...

[NNadir]

There's a new scientific journal (like we needed more?) called Nature Computational Science .

For the inaugural issue which happens to be published inaugural week when decency is restored to the US Presidency, there is this wonderful article about the future we all desire, here at least: Connecting Black women in computational biology (Chirigati, F., Rastogi, A. Connecting Black women in computational biology. Nat Comput Sci 1, 11–13 (2021). )

It should be open sourced, but some excerpts from the interview with Jenea Adams, a second year PhD student who created the Black Women in Computational Biology Network:

I got my bachelor’s from the University of Dayton in biology, and I had a minor in computer science. After realizing that medical school was not for me, I was quite interested in blending my curiosity for mathematics and programming with my long-term excitement for biology. Initially, I did not know anyone in the field of computational biology, but I had mentors and advisors who pushed me in the direction of relevant resources, since the University of Dayton didn’t have a computational biology curriculum. By the time I completed a bioinformatics Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at the University of Pittsburgh, I realized that I wanted to pursue a PhD in this field, not only because it was an exciting field research-wise, but also due to the diversity in terms of people’s backgrounds. Eventually, this led me to the University of Pennsylvania, where I have been working with computational genomics...

...My main role model was Ivet Bahar from the University of Pittsburgh, who was my advisor during my REU program. I saw a really powerful woman leading an important department at the university and in computational science, and she inspired me to reach for more and think outside of my comfort zone. At the time, I didn’t know many women in the field, and I certainly didn’t know any women who looked like me in the field, so she was definitely inspiring to me...

... It was honestly a natural process. I decided to search for ‘number of Black women with degrees in computational biology’ on the Internet and found nothing. There was an editorial on women in the field, but nothing relevant to race or ethnicity demographics of the field. I didn’t put that much thought into it, but I knew that someone like me was going to really appreciate being able to find other Black women by doing a simple search...

... Now, we have a new website that is so much more and symbolizes our growth into a full organization. The next person that searches for Black women in computational biology will be able to find us...

I have no comment to add except kudos to Ms. (eventually "Dr." ) Adams

[Atticus]

1. Thank you. Like most of your posts, reading this one opened a window and showed me

something that I would not have seen but for you.

[NNadir]

2. Thank you. That's one of the nicest complements I've ever received, that I've opened a new...

...vista for someone.