The Summer Program was another great success this year, as the Department hosted 10 undergraduate students, 2 post-baccalaureate interns, and 5 visiting faculty in an effort to increase the presence of underrepresented groups in Biostatistics and Computational Biology. The program provides intensive exposure to these fields through courses in Biostatistics and Epidemiology, training in collaborative research, professional development workshops, and mentoring.
The annual symposium, held in July, featured the summer program and post-baccalaureate research project presentations and Sherilynn Black as the keynote speaker. Dr. Black is Assistant Professor of the Practice in Medical Education, Director of the Office of Biomedical Graduate Diversity, and Co-Principal Investigator of the BioCoRE program at Duke University. Her keynote talk was on “Climate Change: Expanding the Impact of Diversity Interventions in Higher Education.” Dr. Minerva Cordero also joined the symposium as a guest speaker to talk on “Advocating for Diversity from a Personal and Professional Perspective.”