The Goods - newsletter of the Tufts Graduate School of Biomedical Science

 

April 26, 2021 | Volume 4, Issue 31

MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

Dear GSBS Community, After a long and challenging winter, I feel we are beginning to see seeds of hope take root. Last week was an eventful one. On Monday, all Americans 16 and older became eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, a move toward ending the pandemic and beginning our return to a new normal. In our own school, we are moving toward safely decreasing social distancing requirements as more of our community members are vaccinated. On Tuesday, we saw Derek Chauvin convicted for the murder of George Floyd. It was an emotionally challenging day, but one where accountability was, finally, in evidence. While we have much work to do for social justice, we can hope this serves as the beginning of a new era. Thursday was Earth Day, and it warms my heart to see our president convene world leaders to combat climate change. Again, this is just a beginning, but action toward reducing human impact on the environment is critical. I hope that these seedlings can grow and bloom as we all work together for a better, safer and more just world. This week we will record the hooding of our PhD and recognition of our Master’s graduates; these recordings will be assembled into a virtual Commencement ceremony, to be broadcast on May 23. Our graduates go forward into a new world filled with new challenges; we know, however, that they are equipped with the skills and passion to make a difference. Dan Jay

HIGHLIGHTS

Racial Healing Space in Affinity for Black-identifying Faculty, Staff and Students April 27 | 10am Register here. In the aftermath of last Tuesday's announcement of the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial, Dr. Joyce Sackey, the Chief Diversity Officer for the Health Sciences campuses, will lead a discussion in affinity with Black-identifying faculty, staff and students to discuss strategies for healing, caring for one another within our community, and building collective capacity. As we continue our vital work together for enhanced strength and energy to realize our vision of a better world for all, we look forward to having you join Dr. Sackey.

JAX Short Courses – Summer 2021 Registration Deadline: April 30 The following two courses will be offered virtually by The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) in summer 2021 term. GENE 0208 (Short Course on) Human and Mammalian Genetics and Genomics (July 19-29) GENE 0450 (Short Course on) Experimental Models of Human Cancer (August 16-27) There are a limited number of spaces available for non-JAX PhD students to take these courses at no cost. Students interested in enrolling must be PhDs who have passed the Qualifying Exam, and must have PI approval and also Program Director approval (if the course is meant to fulfill an elective requirement). Permission to register is granted on first-come, first-served basis, with priority given to Genetics and Neuroscience students. Contact the Dean’s Office at gsbs@tufts.edu for more information, or to be added to the list. Requests must be received by April 30.

GSBS STUDENT SPOTLIGHTS

Despite the unseasonably cold weather on Friday, Jacob Klickstein still decided to go out for a seaside jog. While he didn't love wearing a winter hat and gloves in April, it is what it is. Looking forward to warmer runs!

Najah Walton was profiled by Tufts Now for her work as a researcher and a mentor. You can read about Najah's research, her path to pursuing a PhD, and her work as a mentor at this link.

To have your student spotlight included in The Goods, send it to alexandra.israel@tufts.edu by 10am on Friday!

UPCOMING EVENTS

April 26 - 28 The Nobel Prize Summit: Our Planet, Our Future Register here. Inspired by Alfred Nobel’s belief in celebrating achievements that contribute “the greatest benefit to humankind,” the Nobel Foundation, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research/Stockholm Resilience Centre invite you to engage in an optimistic exploration of the best version of our collective future. The first Nobel Prize Summit will convene talks from Nobel laureates and conversations among experts from the science, policy, arts, and youth activist communities. See the website for more information. April 28 Gilliam Anti-Racism Seminar: Dr. Farah Lubin 5pm Zoom link: https://tufts.zoom.us/j/96502171006 Password: GILLIAM The Neuroscience Program, the Gilliam Fellowship/HHMI, and the IRACDA program invite you to the next Anti-Racism seminar. Dr. Farah Lubin, Associate Professor and Director, NINDS Neuroscience Roadmap Scholar Program at The University of Alabama at Birmingham, will be the speaker. Please email Chris Dulla (Chris.Dulla@tufts.edu) with questions. April 29 Anti-Asian Hate and Systemic Racism: Breaking the Cycle 4:30 - 5:45pm Register here. The Office of the Provost, the Office of the President, the Division of Student Diversity and Inclusion, and the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy invite you to attend this Bridging Differences event. For more information, see the flyer. May 4 Dissertation Defense - Stacie Clark 10:30am Zoom link: https://tufts.zoom.us/j/97419763080?pwd=b2g5VjViTUFkUnptZFZYQzJwK0lHZz09 The Graduate Program in Molecular Microbiology invites you to Stacie Clark's defense of her dissertation, "Uncovering the macrophage-induced transcriptional response of Yersinia subpopulations using microdroplet-derived inflammatory sites". For more information, see the flyer. May 11 Vaccine Equity and Efficacy in the United States and the World 4pm Register here. As efforts to distribute Covid-19 vaccines intensify throughout the US and across the globe, how can we ensure that equity and access are prioritized? This panel, hosted by Harvard's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, seeks to address the challenges and opportunities to equitable public health strategies around Covid-19 vaccine distribution. For more information, see the website. May 12 Dissertation Defense - Josh Man 10am Zoom link: https://tufts.zoom.us/j/97211367181?pwd=VmlEbWRCYnUrdi85bEhUTWE2dlhtdz09 Passcode: JMan21 The Graduate Program in Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology invites you to Josh Man's defense of his dissertation, “Sex-specific roles of myeloid and endothelial mineralocorticoid receptors in leukocyte trafficking, vascular inflammation, and atherosclerosis.” See the flyer for more information. May 20 National Book Festival Presents: Walter Isaacson on the Biomedical Future 7pm Watch on the Library of Congress's Facebook Page.  Isaacson discusses his new book, “The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing and the Future of the Human Race,” with award-winning journalist Katherine Eban. Nobel winner Doudna and her colleagues have ignited a revolution with the gene-editing tool known as CRISPR, which offers great promise, while raising enormous moral questions. The event will premiere on the Library of Congress's Facebook page. After the premiere, it will be available on YouTube or the Library's website. For more information, see the event page. Recurring Events Associate Dean Dan Volchok's Zoom Office Hours Every Tuesday and Thursday, 3 - 3:30pm Zoom link: https://tufts.zoom.us/j/92583128894?pwd=NjlCbStnKy9pMXBvb2NwMG14WGFmUT09 In order to keep people informed, Associate Dean Dan Volchok will be holding open Zoom “office hours” focused on student and academic issues. Please feel free to use these sessions to ask questions, make suggestions, or to just touch base and chat. Assistant Dean Archer's Office Hours Dean Archer will be offering drop in office hours virtually for all GSBS students in April. See below for the dates and times (all in Eastern Time), as well as the Zoom links. April 28– 3-4pm https://tufts.zoom.us/j/99470931536?pwd=WVBkM1R2a3BkY1pzNWpuUWRtVFlzQT09 Meeting ID: 994 7093 1536 | Passcode: tufts Virtual Yoga Classes Restorative Yoga | Tuesdays at 5pm | Zoom link here. Yoga Sculpt | Wednesdays at 5:30pm | Zoom link here. The Student Advisory & Health Administration Office is offering Virtual Yoga classes for all Health Sciences Students on the Boston Campus.  On Tuesdays, Dr. Christina Pastan will offer Restorative Yoga. Please log on 5 minutes before the start of class and get yourself situated for practice. Participants will not to be able to enter the class after 5:10pm. Participants video will not be seen, and no experience is necessary. On Wednesdays, Julia Citron, TUSM 24, offers Yoga Sculpt classes. This yoga flow class incorporates cardio movements, weight training, and upbeat music. All levels are welcome, and weights are optional! Virtual Drop-in meditation Thursdays | 12:30pm Interested in developing a stronger meditation practice? Every Thursday at 12:30pm, Dr. Christina Pastan, Director, Mind-Body Wellness, School of Dental Medicine offers a 20-minute session which begins with a short talk about an aspect of meditation followed by a guided experience. If you would like to be added to the listserv to receive additional information for this session, send an email to christina.pastan@tufts.edu. The Science of Childhood Cancer Lecture Series at St. Jude's Thursdays | 12pm - 1pm CT Register here. St. Jude's would like to invite you to the spring session of The Science of Childhood Cancer, a weekly virtual lecture series hosted by the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center. The series is designed to engage the scientific community on key questions in pediatric cancer research. The next session will feature Kimberly Stegmaier, MD speaking about "A First-generation Pediatric Cancer Dependency Map." For information about upcoming lectures, see the website. VIEW THE FULL CALENDAR

ANNOUNCEMENTS

GSBS Anti-racist Working Group - Open Meetings and Suggestions Document The GSBS Anti-racist Working Group will be opening up its meetings to any member of the community who wishes to attend. Students, faculty, staff, and postdocs are invited to stop by and share their suggestions, comments, and feedback. Watch this space for meeting details.  If you can't attend a meeting, or would prefer to make suggestions in a different format, the group has a Google Doc of proposed topics, initiatives, and action items. Members of the GSBS community members are free to look at the doc and add their own suggestions. Research!America Summit June 30 | 11 - 6pm Register here Registration is now open for Reaching the Peak: A Science & Technology Career Summit, Research!America’s summit for early career researchers. During this one-day virtual event, early career researchers will have the opportunity to explore an array of career paths, network with fellow researchers, participate in professional development workshops, and engage in meaningful discussions around issues critical to the success of the R&D ecosystem. Apply for the Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship Deadline: April 30 The fellowship provides the opportunity to spend 12 weeks at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, D.C., learning about science and technology policy and the role that scientists and engineers play in advising the nation. Each year, applicants from around the world become part of an Academies' committee, board, or unit where they are assigned to a mentor and learn about the world of science and technology policy. An immersive experience, the program is designed to broaden fellows’ appreciation of employment opportunities outside academia and leave them with both a firm grasp of the important and dynamic role of science and technology in decision-making and a better understanding of the role that they can play in strengthening the science and technology enterprise for the betterment of mankind. For more information or to apply, see the website. Tufts Earth Month: Week 4 Highlights It’s the final week of #TuftsEarthMonth2021! Play the last round of trivia on Green Infrastructure by 4/30 for a shot at $25 to Etsy. Watch @GreenTufts on Instagram to ask questions on the Campus Sustainability Council, and to keep up with virtual programming. Events include Jane Goodall with Tisch, an Earth Month summit with Sen. Ed Markey and Sunrise’s Varshani Prakash, lessons in offshore wind, an Environmental Justice Roundtable with The Hive, and more. All info at go.tufts.edu/EarthMonth. Spring is in the air: Sign up for Bluebikes!  Interested in trying Bluebikes for your commute? You’re in luck! Any employee or student at Tufts University is now eligible for a nearly 50 percent discount on an annual Bluebikes membership through the Tufts Corporate Bluebikes Program. A normally $109 annual membership will now cost just $60/year. With this membership, all rides under 45 minutes are free. For more information, including sign-up instructions, visit the website. Jonathan J. Schimmel, PhD Fellowship GSBS is pleased to announce the creation of a new Fellowship by Jonathan J. Schimmel, PhD (GBS00). The Fellowship will support doctoral students who hope to augment their scientific training with business and management competencies such as accounting, biomedical manufacturing or intellectual property law. For more information, see the website. Volunteers Needed for JEI Camp JEI is planning a mini PhD program this summer, targeting 8th to 10th graders from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The participants will perform experiments to study the significance of antibiotics resistance in our surrounding environment with science kits sent to their homes. JEI is currently recruiting for volunteers (graduate students and postdocs) for: Planning and organizing the virtual mini-PhD Program  Giving lectures on components of scientific method, significance of antibiotics resistance, and/or how to prepare a manuscript  Leading groups of 3-5 students to guide them through scientific method, data collection, and manuscript preparation  The volunteers are not limited to JEI members. Anyone who is interested in volunteering can sign up here. Free IEEE English for Technical Professionals Course sponsored by Tufts SOE The Tufts School of Engineering Graduate Office is sponsoring anyone with a Tufts ID to take the “IEEE English for Technical Professionals” online course for FREE. This new online course by IEEE enables professional engineers and technical professionals whose first language is not English to improve their language skills in a way that fits the needs and priorities of working adults in technical or engineering fields. The IEEE Xplore subscription is available using our Tufts UTLN authentication process. Please use your Tufts UTLN credentials to access the site, and then you will need to create an IEEE id as the second step of the login process. If you have technical questions about the software, or require additional assistance, please feel free to contact onlinesupport@ieee.org.

HIRSH LIBRARY NEWS

Hirsh Library Office Hours for GSBS Students Mondays 11am - 12pm Wednesdays 1pm - 2pm Office hours will be happening remotely via Zoom. Those who wish to attend can find informationat this link.

CAREER NEWS

Career Coaching Meetings with Sarah Cardozo Duncan The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, in partnership with the Tufts Postdoc Association, is pleased to offer one-on-one career coaching meetings with Sarah Cardozo Duncan. Based in Boston, Sarah is a career strategist with an established global client base and runs her own consulting firm, Career Strategist. Sarah conducts hands-on training and workshops for postdoctoral fellows and her commitment and dedication to helping scientists, mainly postdocs, transform their career paths earned her the 2014 Mass AWIS Mentor of Excellence Award. There are no required prerequisites to sign up for these meetings. You can sign up here. Please contact alexandra.israel@tufts.edu with questions. Postdoctoral and Research Associate Positions at HNRCA The Lab for Nutrition and Vision Research at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (JM-USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University, Boston, is seeking outstanding candidates with a recent PhD in Biochemistry or a related discipline to work on one of the following funded projects: Discovering novel stress-induced ubiquitin and autophagy enzyme interactions in response to glycative stress.   Regulatory mechanisms of eye lens differentiation,    Elucidate interactions between dietary glycemia, metabolomics, microbiome, AMD, cataract, aging in animal studies and/or human populations, including planning randomized intervention studies.  Click here for additional information, including application instructions. For specific position descriptions, see the flyers. Postdoctoral Positions Available in the Chen Lab We are seeking 1- 2 postdoctoral fellows in the field of translational medicine using cell and molecular biological approaches. They should have profound experience in one or two of the following research areas: non-coding RNA including lncRNA and microRNA; signal transduction pathway; epigenetic regulation on gene expression; mechanisms of diabetes, osteoporosis/arthritis, Alzheimer's disease and squamous cell carcinoma; regenerative medicine in tissue engineering and wound repair; nanomaterials for in vivo therapeutic molecule delivery; application of over 10 transgenic and gene knockout mouse lines in the Lab. The postdoctoral fellow will be working under the supervision of Dr. Jake Chen and supported by his current NIH grants. A successful postdoc may have the opportunity to be promoted to junior faculty positions. Salary will be from $53,600 to $70,000/year. Dr. Chen’s Lab is conveniently located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. This is an entry level position but individuals who have been a postdoc for not more than 2 years are eligible to apply. Interested candidates should send a curriculum vitae and a brief description of research interests to Dr. Chen at jk.chen@tufts.edu or via Interfolio.

Imposter Syndrome? Sounds Like a "You" Problem. Have you ever self-diagnosed or been told you have imposter syndrome? A recent article in the Harvard Business review examines the origins of imposter syndrome and why it exists in the workplace. The authors describe a framework of racism and implicit bias that exacerbate feelings of inadequacy in women and people of color (POC). They argue we should stop telling women and POC they have imposter syndrome.

STUDENT HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Wellness Advising Office Mon | 9:30am - 5:00pm Tue | 11:00am - 7:00pm Wed/Thurs/Fri | 9:30am - 5:00pm   Email Sharon.Snaggs@tufts.edu to set up a meeting. Check out the Week in Wellness Newsletter! This week's issue includes photos from Student Wellness Advising-sponsored socially distanced meet-ups. Contact Catherine Choi, catherine.y_choi@tufts.edu, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences' representative for the Student Wellness Advisory Committee, with questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding student health and wellness.

Talk One2One - 1.800.756.3124 Free and Confidential counseling service available 24/7 In-person counselors are available on the Boston Campus and can be arranged at off-site locations. Make an appointment through the secure group email account Tuftscounseling@allonehealth.com. You can also call the 1-800 number for immediate ”in the moment” mental health support, and/or if you prefer speaking with a person to assist in getting connected.

Want your event or announcement in The Goods? Email alexandra.israel@tufts.edu by 10am on Friday.