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The SACNAS-UMMS student chapter executive board |
In the year since its inception, the SACNAS-UMMS chapter has recruited members, received a national award and established itself as one of the more active chapters in the national Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.
On Saturday, April 21, the group will continue its outreach to the next generation of scientists and foster diversity in STEM by hosting the 2018 SACNAS New England Regional Conference.
“It’s important to us to bring together the scientific community; expose undergraduate students to variety of STEM careers and topics; and provide them with the opportunity to meet faculty from many institutions,” said Aurian Garcia-Gonzalez, MD/PhD candidate and president of the UMMS student chapter of SACNAS.
Nearly 200 people from 10 academic and scientific institutions are expected to attend the day-long event. The conference theme is, “Scientists as advocates and agents for social change.”
“We’re scientists and part of our job is to train, to educate and to contribute to society to try to make the world a better place. I think we just don’t want to only show science, we want to show how scientists can be advocates for social change through education,” said Teresita Padilla-Benavides, PhD, instructor of biochemistry & molecular pharmacology and faculty co-advisor and advocate for SACNAS at UMMS.
The conference will include a series of workshops focused on career and professional development and invited speakers, including Javier E. Irazoqui, PhD, associate professor of microbiology & physiological systems at UMMS, and SACNAS President-Elect Sonia Zárate, PhD, program officer for undergraduate and graduate science education at Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Additionally, poster and networking sessions are scheduled.
Holding the event at UMMS is particularly meaningful to the chapter because it allows them to bring the broader science community to Central Massachusetts from other regions of New England, Garcia-Gonzalez said. It also affords UMMS students the chance to showcase the science taking place on and around the UMMS campus, she said.
“As an undergraduate in Puerto Rico, I was very fortunate to be awarded travel scholarships to attend and present at two SACNAS national meetings. These opportunities were a strong incentive to continue to pursue research later in my career,” she said.
For more about the 2018 SACNAS New England Regional Conference visit https://sacnasumms.wixsite.com/neregional2018.
Related stories on UMassMedNow:
UMMS establishes chapter of national organization to advance Latinos/minorities in science
SACNAS-UMMS inaugural workshop will explore implicit bias in science
Teresita Padilla-Benavides recognized for mentorship with SACNAS award
