Becoming a Researcher: Inclusion and Accessibility in the Lab Environment (IDEAS) - April 2

Recorded On: 04/02/2024


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This webinar will focus on becoming a researcher in academic medicine and hearing from researchers with disabilities on how they have navigated and experienced graduate education, training, and beyond, and from faculty on navigating and self-advocating through challenges in both the classroom and lab. Topics will include applying for graduate school and postdoctoral positions, selecting faculty advisors and mentors, unique challenges in the classroom and lab environment, and sources of institutional and community support. 

This webinar will bring together panelists from across the career spectrum, both researchers and those who support them, to share their varied perspectives on inclusion and accessibility in research settings.

Learning Objectives:

  • Gain insight into the challenges and successes experienced first-hand by individuals with disabilities entering and thriving in research careers.
  • Increase awareness of how disability can impact each individual differently within classroom and lab settings. 
  • Provide practical examples of how to support researchers with disabilities, and further understanding of how this improves the research environment for all.

About IDEAS
The AAMC IDEAS (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Anti-racism) Learning Series provides actionable information about DEI strategies that you can put into practice to become a more effective and successful leader, educator, and member of the academic medicine community.

Emily Ackerman, PhD (She/Her)

Postdoctoral Researcher, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Emily Ackerman is a postdoctoral researcher in Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School. As a disabled researcher, Emily is devoted to activism surrounding disability justice both inside and outside of academia with a particular interest in the interaction between disability, technology, and education. She has served as a committee member in two NASEM projects which assess and discuss disability and accessibility in STEM environments (Leading Practices for Improving Accessibility and Inclusion in Field, Laboratory, and Computational Science – A Conversation Series, and Beyond Compliance: Promoting the Success of People with Disabilities in the STEM Workforce), and currently holds a second appointment with the HMS Systems Biology department as a Disability Advisor. In addition, she has published writings and spoken publicly on her identity as a disabled woman in computational science and her experience with the way science and technology fields exclude disabled voices.

Bonnielin Swenor, PhD, MPH (She/Her)

Director of the Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research Center; Endowed Professor of Disability Health and Justice, Johns Hopkins University

Bonnielin Swenor is an epidemiologist and the Endowed Professor of Disability Health and Justice at The Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and holds joint appointments at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is the founder and director of the Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research Center, which aims to shift the paradigm from ‘living with a disability’ to ‘thriving with a disability’. Motivated by her personal experience with a visual disability, her work takes a data-driven approach to advancing equity for people with disabilities and promoting disability inclusion and accessibility, with a focus on improving and expanding disability data collection. Dr. Swenor has provided advice and expertise on disability data, equity, and accessibility to multiple organizations and agencies. Recently, she was a speaker at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Summit on Equity and Excellence in STEMM, served as chair of the National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) planning committee for the Disrupting Ableism and Advancing STEM series, co-chaired the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) Subgroup on Individuals with Disabilities, and served as a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ACD Health Equity Workgroup.

Theresa A. Davies, PhD (She/Her)

Assistant Dean, Master’s Programs; Director, MS in Oral Health Science Program; GMS Disabilities & Access Services Liaison, Graduate Medical Sciences, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Dr. Davies began her tenure at Boston University in the Biochemistry Department over 30 years ago investigating the role of the blood brain barrier in Alzheimer’s disease and amyloid deposition. More recently, she has served as Director of the BU Master of Science in Oral Health Sciences (OHS) program, a credential-enhancing pipeline program with a mission to increase the number of students entering the field of dentistry from underrepresented groups.

In 2017, Dr. Davies assumed a new role in Graduate Medical Sciences (GMS), the graduate arm of the medical school with more than 30 different masters and doctoral programs, as Assistant Dean. In that role, she has served as the GMS Liaison for Disability & Access Services (DAS). Although not a role she sought out, she has become truly passionate about serving the students. She has worked with many students over the past six years, including some difficult years during COVID-19, working to provide students with the support they need to receive equitable access to education. Although challenging, it has been tremendously rewarding. DAS is an area that has received much less visibility over the years and is finally gaining some backing. Dr. Davies is proud to be an advocate in this endeavor to move forward in providing opportunities to more individuals.

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