January 2020 Issue

Programming

2020 brings a new look with a revamped Alfred P. Sloan logo! This quarterly newsletter is a sneak-peak of the new aesthetic; be prepared to see all of the exciting changes to our website very soon!

In more exciting news, we would like to welcome our new cohort of Sloan Scholars from the MPHD Class of 2019! Congratulations!

Our 2020 SSMN grant competition is now open! Grants are available for conference travel (up to $1500), mentoring/career development (up to $5,000), and seed funding (up to $10,000). See our grants page for more details, including information on guidelines, requirements, the application, past grantees, and sample proposals. Only PhD graduates of the Sloan Minority PhD Program, or Sloan Scholar PhDs, are eligible to apply. The deadline is May 1, 2020.

Tune in to our two-part webinar series developed by the Center for Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER). Part I will focus on strengthening mentoring relationships by providing participants practical strategies for effective communication.

Led by: Sloan Scholar and Associate Professor of Chemistry at St. John Fisher College, Kermin Martínez-Hernández

To participate in Part I, follow the links to tune in at one of the days/times listed below:
*Wednesday, 1/22 at 3 pm EST
*Thursday, 1/23 at 10 am EST (live repeat)

January is #MentoringMonth. To those of you on social media, we encourage you all to share your favorite stories on how mentorship has influenced your professional careers!

Follow us on Twitter (@SloanNetwork) and use our #SloanScholars hashtag!

Below are a few important dates for Mentoring Month:
*January 17: International Mentoring Day
*January 30: #ThankYourMentor Day

The SSMN hosted our annual Academic Job Market and New Faculty Boot Camp from October 23rd – 25th in Atlanta, GA at the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Conference. Workshop topics for navigating the job market included: chalk talks, preparing effective application materials, and planning for the campus visit. New Faculty topics focused on effective teaching methods and evaluation, balancing administrative labor, and preparing the tenure packet.

Scholar Spotlight

Melanie McReynolds

*Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton University
*2018 Hanna H. Gray Fellow, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
*Sloan Scholar PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Penn State University

Melanie McReynolds was selected by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) as one of 2018’s “15 exceptional early career scientists.” The Hanna Gray Fellowship will fund Dr. McReynolds’ research with an investment of up to $1.4 million over eight years...(continue reading)

Sloan Scholar Career Updates

Deji Akinwande (Stanford University, electrical engineering), promoted to full professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

Chibueze Amanchukwu (MIT, chemical engineering), accepted an assistant professor position at the University of Chicago.

Eli Borrego (Texas A&M University, plant pathology), accepted an assistant professor position at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Joya Cooley (UC Davis, Inorganic Chemistry), accepted an assistant professor position at Cal State Fullerton.

Christopher Gillespie (University of Delaware, chemical engineering), accepted a Director position at Merck.

Research News

Damena Agonafer (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, mechanical engineering), Assistant Professor at University of Washington in St. Louis and SSMN 2018 seed grant winner, published "Numerical Investigation of Shape Effect on Microdroplet Evaporation" in ASME's Journal of Electronic Packaging.

Edikan Archibong (USF, chemical & biological engineering), postdoc researcher at the UNC/NC State Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering and SSMN 2019 mentor/mentee grant winner, recently published "In situ thermal ablation of tumors in combination with nano-adjuvant and immune checkpoint blockade to inhibit cancer metastasis and recurrence" in Elsevier's Biomaterials.

Alan Aspuru-Guzik (UC Berkeley, chemistry), chemistry and computer science Professor at the University of Toronto recently published "Deep learning enables rapid identification of potent DDR1 kinase inhibitors" in Nature Biotechnology.

Joseph Badillo (UC Davis, Chemistry), Assistant Professor at Seton Hall University and SSMN 2019 seed grant winner, published "Photoacid-Catalyzed Friedel–Crafts Arylation of Carbonyls" in ACS's Organic Letters.

Richard Camilli (MIT, applied ocean physics & engineering), associate scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is leading a NASA-funded, AI submarine expedition to explore South Aegean Sea's underwater volcanic mountain Kolumbo, in preparation for potential future missions to Jupiter.

Christopher Dancy (Penn State, Information Sciences & Technology/Cognitive Science), Assistant Professor at Bucknell University and SSMN 2018 seed grant winner, is the lead investigator for a $175,000 NSF grant focusing on "Using Computational Models of Humans to Study & Improve Human-AI interaction."

Lisa Dyson (MIT, physics), CEO at Air Protein and Kiverdi, was featured on Business Insider after her start-up revealed a more sustainable meat alternative that converts carbon dioxide into protein, a technique originally discovered by NASA.

Reminder: The SSMN contains a database of job and postdoctoral opportunities. Submit a request for access to view it, if you have not already received log-in information at the email address to which you are subscribed to this newsletter. Job opportunities can be posted to the SSMN listserv or emailed to granado@ssmn.org.

Have you earned tenure? Full professor status? Secured a postdoc, grant, or promotion? Let us know.