Liz Wayne
@LizWaynePhD
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Asst Prof @UWBioE @theWayneGroup I @TEDFellow | Mississippi raised me I macrophage engineering | @PhDivaspodcast I #BlackANDSTEM
United States
Joined June 2011
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I am incredibly excited to join
@UWBioE
in January 2024. I look forward to expanding my research program in monocyte cellular theranostics in one of the best environments for cellular immunotherapy in the nation.
UWBioE is thrilled to announce that Elizabeth Wayne (
@LizWaynePhD
) will be starting as an assistant professor in January '24. Professor Wayne brings particular expertise in immunoengineering, translational research, drug & gene delivery, and biomaterials:
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So I was talking to my Dad. Apparently when trying to schedule his vaccine appt, the caller said there is "there is no documented proof that the Moderna vaccine works. would you still like to take the vaccine?"
This is the Mississippi Health Department. I'm in disbelief.
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@msdh
telling people that there is no documented proof that the Moderna vaccine works--when they are calling to get the vaccine is violence.
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STEM students--many of you are wondering abt your place in this cultural moment . You probably feel like you should be doing "more".
This is your reminder that your presence in science is your activism. Showing up as your full self in the lab is activism.
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Is this a thing that other people have had said to them when they signed up for the vaccine?
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I'm curious about something. Are there any other people who feel more exhausted from a series of virtual meetings than they do after a series of in person meetings?
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Update: My Dad called again this morning and was able to get a vaccine appointment!
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Just a reminder:
Many of you are about to invite a bunch of Black Academics and/or DEI professionals to your departmental seminars.
1) Pay THEM WELL.
2) If they are faculty, DO NOT ONLY ASK THEM TO SPEAK ABOUT DIVERSITY. Give them a platform for their research.
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There was no mention of the documentation on the vaccine at all this time. We are looking into finding out what happened.
Thanks for your concern about this issue.
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It's PhD recruitment time. PI walks into the student office & introduces us to a recruit who is Black and male. We shook hands.Then my undergrad (also Black/male) waves as he walks by in his lab coat. 3 Black people in the same room! NEVER HAPPENS. My heart swelled.
#blackandSTEM
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Happy to announce that I will be a tenure track Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon
@CarnegieMellon
joint btwn Depts of Chemical Engineering
@CMU_ChemE
& Biomedical Engineering
@cmu_bme
I took this picture after my first interview. Glad it came in handy.
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Beth McLaughlin pretended to be an indigenous prof, then KILLS HER OFF from COVID19.
Jessica Krug has pretended to be a black person her entire academic career.
Rachel Dolezal.
Ya'll they were all academics.
I got nothing to say. I'm really just stating the facts of 2020.
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Academics: so are you still interested in being a prof?
Me: Yes.
A: But you did a TED talk.
Me: About my research. Yes.
A: and you go to seminars outside your field.
Me: my field is interdisciplinary
A: You mentor students very well.
Me: okay really?!
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Update: Some investigative reporting by Nick Judin
@nickjudin
has helped our family understand what happened yesterday and led to changes in the vaccine phone script.
Thanks for working so hard on this
@nickjudin
and
@msdh
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A thing I am grappling with is my life as a professor at a prestigious university and my life as a black woman whose family could not afford the tuition of my workplace nor the benefit of innocent bliss.
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A: But, you're on twitter! You can't be serious AND on twitter.
Me: So is every science funding agency and foundation.
#RethinkingHigherEd
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My lab has decided to start a YouTube page where we open delivery boxes.
Extra points for the 2 ft x 2 ft boxes that only contain a single box of gloves.
Who wants in on this action?
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Celebrating my first year as an Assistant Professor! I have aged significantly to say the least.
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Thought I purchased 20 pyrex 500mL bottles. I purchased 20 cases.
The "don't the let PI order anything" era has already descended.
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I am excited to announce that Dr. Kishana Taylor
@KYT_ThatsME
will be joining my lab as a Postdoctoral Researcher starting August 2020! If you do not know her, you should definitely follow her
#FollowFriday
#BlackWomeninSTEMweek
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This is the PhD interview time of year so here is a reminder:
If you get in great. BUT, not getting into a PhD program is not in any way linearly related to your capability.
There are not unlimited slots for students. Even then, faculty may not be taking (for many reasons).
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I'm getting the impression that what academics (faculty, staff, grad students, undergrads) really want to hear from their institution is that...
it's okay to stop working. It's okay to feel burned out. We will protect you if you can muster the mental or physical energy to work.
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Okay. Burnout is real.
COVID19 + racial protests +lab-reopening + fall teaching upheaval is going to make some academics burnout even faster.
Please don't disregard those emotions.
#AcademicTwitter
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Really important conversation happening wrt white feminism.
If you don't understand the critique please take this cue to go to the side & ask somebody or read about it. There's ALOT to unpack. If your gut response is that its an overreaction.. you might have more learning to do.
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A: It just doesn't seem like a successful prof can do all that.
Me: Watch 👏🏾 ME 👏🏾
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My academic experience has been this.
If I win, it’s because I’m black and a woman.
If I lose, it’s because I’m black and a woman.
In both instances *cough* *cough* white people feel the need to REMIND me that this is the case.
Can I live? Can I science?
Years ago when I was up for tenure a white male colleague said it was unlikely bc “you weren’t exactly hired for your writing.” Upon my getting tenure early, another white male colleague, w/o tenure, said “well I wish I was gay & black.” That is all. For now.
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I'm concerned about the pressure for undergraduates to have authored publications to be considered qualified for graduate school.
Not only does this produce bias in the system, but post
#COVID19
many UGs weren't able to work in labs. It puts them at a huge disadvantage.
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One day (soon), I want to talk abt the trauma of being in academia. Everyone experiences it to varying degrees but minorities get a special blend of trauma. When we talk about the "leaky pipeline" (a phrase that is outdated) we should talk about the trauma factor. It's real.
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My first PhD students are now outlining their dissertation thesis.
I'm establishing a tradition that they write a chapter on their public scholarship--how does their research relate to current problems in human health or society?
This is how I want to execute
#broaderimpact
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I'm slowly becoming that scientist who thinks everything in the world can be reduced to the *ONE* thing we study.
P:Cancer is bad
Me: have you thought about targeting macrophages?
P: My car isn't working
Me: But have you thought about making a new one with macrophages?
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Nature Communications is the Fox News of scientific journals
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This might be controversial but....
If you were an institution that specifically invited URM to apply to your TT faculty positions (& especially if they told you it was a cycle before they were thinking of applying) AND they were rejected...
Offer them feedback
Here's why:
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A: But you do outreach events all the---
Me: IKR?!?! and sometimes the people I help are underrepresented minorities!
A: But how do you find time to do it all?
Me: How do you find time to go hiking on the weekends and drinking every night?
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I got covid at a conference
@grcimmunoeng
. I avoided COVID for the whole pandemic but went to my first in-person conference, the BAM.
Here’s what I did.
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The culture of science is....problematic. The time and effort you put into your department culture and research productivity is activism.
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Best smile Ive seen all day—my Dad got his first vaccine shot!!
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I woke up thinking abt when as a postdoc, a black undergraduate worked w/me. the first day we were in lab together someone asked if it was my daughter.
The next time I had a black student, someone asked if it was my brother--they thought it was "bring your relative to work day"
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Professor-ing is really interesting in this moment. I feel the urge to not work. To hide from the news, emails, & anything that confirms our present US reality.
and yet.
My students/collab's need me. My research needs me to push it forward.
I need me to get it together.
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6) For those who preemptively are worried that they will not get any invited talks because "all the Black faculty are getting preferential treatment." NO. Go sit in a corner and think about how flawed that logic is, how antithetical that is to how academia really works.
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Beyond grateful & excited for this opportunity. I'm learning so much, being a professor is like drinking from a water hose. Even though the water pressure feels too high at times, I'm happy to be here.
Thanks to all of my students and to my mentors. I hope I won't let you down.
ChemE and
@CMU_BME
Assistant Professor Elizabeth Wayne (
@LizWaynePhD
) has received an NIH R35 grant, providing her lab with the resources needed to develop bioluminescence microscopy technology to measure macrophage polarization responses in real-time.
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I know that while people are celebrating getting into graduate school, there are those who aren't getting those admissions offers.
You are still worthy. It is a really tough environment. Hang in there. We see you.
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Today I submitted a grant that I had all intentions of submitting in the summer. I felt all sorts of guilt, anxiety, wishing for more time. But I submitted. And I know that as an early career professor that is what really matters.
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Academics: Don't hide behind your PhD--Stand on top of it.
Use it as your platform to tell your community the info you've gathered.
Make your community a better place because of it.
Make yourself a better leader because of what you've learned/experienced.
#TuesdayThoughts
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Just occurred to me:
grad students get excited about free food..because its FREE food.
Profs get excited about free food because its PLANNED food. A meal they don't have to *prepare*. Also it usually means there is time allotted for actually eating. 😂😂😂🤣🥴
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I definitely had times where I couldn't pay food or rent on time bc a stipend didnt come on time. I remember being asked why I didnt have a credit card or why I didnt just ask family for money.... these weren't options for me & I was embarrassed to say that.
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One of the most invisible privileges is the ability to fail. To fail & still have a job, still be treated as valuable, still be seen as intelligent, still be the recipient of empathy and sympathy.
These privileges arent often given to URM..& if they are its still transactional.
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We should not forget the lessons learned from
#COVID19
about needing the voices of our scientists heard and then pretend like it also doesn't apply to social justice.
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I think people should be understanding/reach out to their Asian colleagues/mentees/students/friends. Here are some recommendations (from my experience as a Black person who goes through this every time Black people are killed on video and America develops a conscience)
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My heart is swelling but my soul is angry. Some of you will think this isn't a big deal while you go back to talking to a labmate who looks like you while working for a PI who looks like you.
Representation matters. If you have never thought of it before well, do it now.
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3) Do NOT let their visit be hosted solely by the diversity department at your institution.
It needs to be supported financially, physically, and socially by faculty influencers in the department.
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Black scientists develop whole other personalities just to disarms non-black peoples suspicion, to over-demonstrate their intelligence, to seem more chill in an attempt to regulate our own emotions to macro/microagressions, to prevent white tears.
#BlackInIvory
Use humor to disarm and speak or engage first (oh and in your proper voice). That won't give them the chance to be racist, right? Then all the sudden, that is just who you are. To those who know me now, my mom said I was introverted when I was a kid.
#BlackintheIvory
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I was a McNair Scholar
Today we remember NASA astronaut and physicist Ronald McNair on his
#birthday
. Born in 1950, Dr. McNair was chosen as an astronaut in January 1978. He tragically lost his life during the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion in 1986.
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This week self care looked like:
-Being honest with my colleagues, allowing myself to let them actually hear *some* of my rage, frustration, & anxiety.
-Not going to ALL the meetings
-Calling people who bring me joy
-Allowing myself to plan as if I will be in the future
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4) Diversity Equity and Inclusion is a whole entire stand alone discipline. You should treat it with the same respect you would treat [insert field you work in]
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So I totally took pictures of my students first poster session like it was prom night or something.
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I'm excited that this interview has been released. It was been a generally positive response and in truth very true to its word
#BriefButSpectacular
"I am contributing to a generation of, not only people who might be scientists, but also people who will go out into the world and take on many different disciplines,"
@LizWaynePhD
, a
@TEDFellow
, tells us.
#BriefButSpectacular
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To clarify yesterday's tweet.
Out of ~28,000 engineering professors in the US, only 135 are Black Women.
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So don't think that you aren't "doing anything". You matter because you are here.
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Ran into a student who has promised for the last year to email me.
Had some tea.
Talked about her research progress and about managing depression and anxiety. Most importantly, we argued over whether Ron was an important character in Harry Potter.
My afternoon was successful.
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Allow the CDC to conduct research on the gun violence.
GOP Governor: Don't blame guns for school shootings, it's the video games and movies
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5) Tangential to
#4
, if you are inviting a faculty member who is qualified to speak about DEI AND [insert field] then value them like the highly intellectual leaders that they are.
Listen to them the FIRST time. Hire them. Pay them. Protect them.
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But seriously, there weren't just 3 black people in the same room, but there was a black postdoctoral fellow, a Black future grad students, and a Black undergrad doing research
THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED TO ME BEFORE and I've been doing science for over 12 years.
#blackandSTEM
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When I was in middle school, there was a statewide election to change the state flag. The majority of Mississipians voted to KEEP the flag. This was also around the time that I was learning what the confederacy really meant.
Today, to have that flag changed is powerful.
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This publication is reminding me of my the time I showed my parents a publication.
A Thread.
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The questions you ask and the communities they include. It all counts.
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Note about black twitter (for non-black audiences): don't confuse Black humor with Black experience.
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Reminder that be explicit in our communication with students. If believe its important to take care of mental health, you need to say it openly and frequently. You need to model what it looks like to take care of mental health.
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Whenever there is a new article about how"its a fact" that women dont like physics I get frustratrated enough to scream.
These claims dont deserve attention. They are laughable.
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In other news, today is my PhD Anniversary!
5 years ago today, I defended my PhD dissertation and took the best nap I've ever had in my life. At the time it was both surreal and anti-climatic.
It took a smooth 8 months to really feel like I had a PhD.
But I made it.
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@DrFrankRoberts
What’s hurtful to me is an idea propagating throughout the comments— that faculty themselves do not have learning disabilities. Its not said but its implied.
Moreover, people are using disabilities in a disingenuous way, not representing how issues are handled in higherED.
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Today is the first day of classes at my institution and as I was coming back from a morning run, I thought about whether this was the first time a Black woman has ever taught a junior level course in my department. I wondered if that meant anything.
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It's application season. undergrads, grad students, postdocs, faculty (everybody) is in an emotional tizzy.
Make sure you tell people that you think they are qualified. Recommend them for new opportunities. Give them the important feedback. Be explicit in your details.
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Overall, I’m very proud of this semester.
Postdoc is great.
My PhD students are troopers.
The undergrads are inspiring.
My colleagues are lifesavers.
The staff/admin have not yet killed me for sending requests.
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Today was one of the most successful weeks that my lab has had. Everyone is feeling excited and confident. This week took two months to happen. Gonna hold on to this.
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So interesting to experience PhD recruitment weekend as a faculty member.
Grad students really drive recruitment efforts. Faculty make the sell, grad students are the closers. 🙂
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My high school alma mater just asked me to deliver their commencement address. I am in happy tears right now.
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@Shaye_Tova
@aliciakeys
MM had a nose job, modified her chin, dyed her hair platinum blonde....its just not a good ex.also her body WAS the model in her era
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The critique (in my view) is not meant to attack an individual but to respond to a structural problem.
No one is asking about your intent or what was in your heart. That is neither the source nor solution to the critique being presented.
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My parents (black, southern, Christian, late 50s/early 60s) CANNOT wait to take the COVID19 vaccine. They don't care which one it is. I am relieved.
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Remembering my time as an Ivy League student when
someone said, "I don't see the problem if my family donates 25 million to the university, I should be able to attend."
He said it in front of students, professors, & university officials from the donations office.
My Harvard ‘03 classmate Jared Kushner got in because his parents donated $2.5 million to Harvard. Me? I taught myself to take the SAT there was no $ for a class.
Which one of us knows something about earning our position in life, Jared?
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I've spent at least 2 hours over the last few days just recommending people for fellowships, encouraging people to apply for things they didn't think we were eligible for or didn't know existed.
It's my science therapy.
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Does this feel uncomfortable? That's okay. It's not exactly supposed to feel nice. But if you work through this, you might become a way better colleague, friend, mentor.
We might develop better language when we talk about these issues.
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Thank you for celebrating with me
@KWhiteheadLab
! Im super excited about doing this work and telling everyone more. Details to come. 🦠🔬🧫🔨👩🏾🔬
Congratulations to my colleague
@LizWaynePhD
on her first sponsored research award! 👏She’s received an NSF RAPID grant on macrophages & COVID-19.
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In conclusion, if you want your paper to get more circulation, send it to your mother!
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When people ask me why I got “x” award or recognition, I’m going to start saying “because I’m amazing. What about you?”
#ScholarSunday
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And to those who may be thinking of the word "attack", consider this from a power perspective.
Who really has the power? Who is really the most at risk of losing their position or power in this conversation?
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I just cancelled my group meeting because its Friday and one more zoom meeting was gonna make me scream.
Feeling like a terrible PI right now.
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Yesterday, I got a call from my Dad saying he was being given misinformation about the vaccine. It lead to many tweets, phone calls and changes in the
@msdh
vaccine phone script. Thanks Nick Judin
@nickjudin
for doing the investigative reporting on this.
So I was talking to my Dad. Apparently when trying to schedule his vaccine appt, the caller said there is "there is no documented proof that the Moderna vaccine works. would you still like to take the vaccine?"
This is the Mississippi Health Department. I'm in disbelief.
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For once, I saw what it might look like for Black people to be a normalized facet of an academic lab.
And it only lasted 10 seconds.
#blackandSTEM
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This week I am speaking at
@Harvard
's "Topics in BioEngineering" seminar series. Learn about: macrophage-biomaterials interactions for drug delivery & diagnostics. Thanks, Harvard SEAS students for the kind invite!
All welcome, register here:
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It's really difficult to focus right now. Committee work. Course prep. Grant writing. the micro aggressions my friends are experiencing publicly and privately. budget justifications. Jacob Blake. Breonna Taylor. student emails. Anthony McClain. Am I even ready for this semester?
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Ok hear me out.
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Hogwarts cancels final exams and all quidditch games because the Heir to Slytherin was returning and trying to kill people.
If they can survive, so can we??
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It has been nice to have virtual conferences. The threshold for attending a conference has been lowered. Moreover, I have been able to get my students to attend conferences without spending 💰💰to get them there.
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Today, someone in class asked me what I found to be the most amazing thing about immunology.
I said, “the fact that it actually works.“
I’m not sure if they were expecting that, but its the truth. It’s hard not to be in awe of the immune system.
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When you wonder why someone isn't doing what you think they should, its because they are not experiencing the same reality that you are.
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The best place I found my article?
Stapled to the announcement board in the front of CHURCH
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