Navigating the Academic Journey: Empowering Postdocs on the Path to Tenure Track Success

While women have achieved parity in earning doctoral degrees, a noticeable gender gap persists in academia, where women continue to face challenges in securing tenure positions, gaining access to publication opportunities, and attaining leadership roles. Join Dr. Sang Won Park, Dr. Priyadarshini Kachroo, and Dr. Samagya Banskota (bios below) for a Panel Discussion as they share their journeys and commitment to mentoring women scientists. Delve into an insightful conversation and discover tips and tricks for a successful faculty application. Covered topics include chalk talk, effective grant writing strategies, and navigating negotiations in your academic career.

Panelist Bios

Dr. Sang Park is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, where she also serves as the Principal Investigator of her laboratory located at Boston Children’s Hospital. In her role, Dr. Park leads a team of researchers and oversees various scientific investigations within her field of expertise, which specifically focuses on glucose metabolism. Dr. Park’s research centers around studying the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of type 2 diabetes, with a particular emphasis on unraveling the complexities of insulin signaling pathways in the context of obesity.

In addition to her research endeavors, Dr. Park has a strong passion for mentoring. Since 2021, she has actively engaged in mentoring initiatives such as AWIS (Association for Women in Science) and HGWISE (Harvard Graduate Women in Science and Engineering), where she dedicates her time to providing guidance and support to aspiring women scientists.

Dr. Park is also a certified professional coach and aims to empower and facilitate the growth and success of fellow researchers in the scientific community, fostering a supportive and inclusive environment for their professional development. She is a member of JCSW (Joint Committee on the Status of Women). Her passion lies in fostering the growth and success of fellow women in the scientific realm, contributing to the advancement of diversity and inclusivity in scientific pursuits.

Dr. Kachroo is an Instructor in Medicine and Associate Scientist in the Channing Division of Network Medicine (CDNM) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School (BWH & HMS). Dr. Kachroo has led various studies by utilizing multiple large-scale, well-characterized population-based cohorts, biobanks, and clinical trial data through novel computational approaches using multi-omic integration (whole genome, metabolome, transcriptome, methylome, quantitative trait loci - QTLs). Her research centers on studying gene-environment interactions and sex differences across the life-course for lung diseases and other complex inflammatory health conditions.

In addition to contributing to research, Dr. Kachroo has been actively involved in teaching and mentoring responsibilities for the next generation of experts in the field and participates in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives around the Harvard community and beyond. Being a woman in STEM, she finds immense joy in counseling early-career professionals, especially, providing guidance and support to fellow women for their career development. In the past, Dr. Kachroo has worked closely with the Advocacy and Communications committee and was the co-director of the Mentoring Circles program for postdocs at the BWH. She began volunteering for the Events Committee with MASS AWIS in 2023.

Dr. Banskota is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University and a member of Biological Design Center. She obtained her B.Sc. in Bioengineering from Penn State University, where her work focused on re-engineering tumor metabolism for treatment of breast cancer. She pursued her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University under the supervision of Professor Ashutosh Chilkoti. Her doctoral work focused on the development of genetically encoded biopolymers-based drug delivery systems and elucidating rules that govern the pharmacokinetics of such biopolymers. Thereafter, she joined the laboratory of Prof. David Liu at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard for her postdoctoral work. While at Broad, she developed novel viral and non-viral delivery methods for in vivo gene editing. Samagya has also recently co-founded Nvelop Therapeutics and worked there before starting as an Assistant Professor at Boston University.

Registration Fee: $15 for AWIS members & $25 for AWIS non-members

Registration Deadline: Wednesday, 3rd April 2024, 12 noon EST

Zoom link will be sent to the participants 24 hr prior to the event.