STEM

August 22, 2023

Grad student Creea Shannon seeks to inspire young people to pursue careers in science

She doesn’t want students thinking about careers to be as unaware of STEM fields as she was as a girl
Aspirnaut Sahra Hassan, right, a senior at Burlington High School in Burlington, Vermont, worked on mitochondrial DNA maintenance with postdoctoral scientist Iva Chitrakar, PhD.
March 2, 2023

VUMC’s Aspirnaut program to install science lab at Wynne High School in Arkansas

A chemical biology research lab fit for an academic medical center is being installed at Wynne High School (WHS) in Wynne, Arkansas, as part of a pilot project of Aspirnaut STEM pipeline at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

By Craig Boerner
Eighteen high school students and 16 college undergraduates participated in the Aspirnaut program this summer. Program co-founders Billy Hudson, PhD, and Julie Hudson, MD, MA, are at far left and right. Fourth from right, back row, is Aspirnaut alumna Lauren Taylor, from Grapevine, Arkansas, who participated in the inaugural Aspirnaut program 15 years ago — a broadband internet-equipped school bus the Hudsons dubbed their “mobile one-room schoolhouse,” which enabled students to log into science and math lessons during their long bus rides to and from school.
August 3, 2022

Science career “pipeline” garners national attention

Vanderbilt’s Aspirnaut STEM pipeline for diversity and wellness recently celebrated its 15th anniversary with a daylong scientific symposium, followed by a feature on the program broadcast Aug. 2 on NBC Nightly News.

By Bill Snyder
Artist Anjali Kumari, an undergraduate student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, worked with Vanderbilt PhD student Kelsey Pilewski on this piece that depicts co-infection by two viruses, HIV (blue) and HCV (red), and the evolution of antibodies to combat virus infection.
October 29, 2020

Grant helps expand VI4’s Artist-in-Residence program

An innovative Vanderbilt program that brings together scientists and artists with the shared goal of scientific communication is set to expand with support from a three-year grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

By Leigh MacMillan
February 3, 2020

A Children’s Hospital doctor and two female football trailblazers went to the NFL Flag Championships with a message of empowerment for girls

“Being on a team is a way to build leadership skills. We all highlighted the importance of teaching the girls about their value.”

By Jessica Pasley
February 15, 2018

Linda Sealy receives 2018 AAAS Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement

Professor Linda Sealy has won the AAAS Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement for her continued efforts to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in STEM Ph.D. programs.

By VUMC News and Communications
July 20, 2017

Aspirnaut program helps launch students into science

Now in its ninth year, a unique summer research program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) designed primarily for rural students with limited resources is proving that talent has no zip code.
By Bill Snyder
December 12, 2016

Vanderbilt earns top rankings, including a No. 1, for successful minority recruitment in master’s and Ph.D. programs

"Diverse: Issues In Higher Education" has ranked Vanderbilt University No. 1 in the country for the number of doctoral degrees awarded to African Americans in the biological and biomedical sciences.
By VUMC News and Communications
September 4, 2015

Tennessee consortium aims to increase diversity in higher education

Vanderbilt University is leading an effort with 10 other post-secondary institutions to increase the diversity of faculty, staff and executives in higher education in Tennessee.
By VUMC News and Communications