Representation matters, but representation is not power.

If your diversity efforts stop at panels and photos, you are performing diversity, not building it.

I am and I just did!

Photo of three people having lunch together. On the left is Kira Yoshida and right is Rori Childers, two stellar undergrads at Tufts. In the middle is Jaye Gardiner dressed festively wearing a reindeer antler headband and red blazer.

And just like that, the first semester of the lab is complete! 🥳

Got to work with these two fabulous undergrads, Kira (left) and Rori (right) and am super pumped to physically do the science they wrote their papers on next semester! Happy holidays to all! - JCG

Well aren’t you FANCY 😂 (I’m very jealous!)

I hope you enjoy!

We should’ve told you about LE dinner plans since you’re local! 🙀🤦🏾‍♀️

Group of people (all scientists, all faculty) smiling for a photo (left to right): Adelita Mendoza, Jaye Gardiner, Tigist Tamir, Mary Munson, Chantell Evans, Cornelius Taabazuing, Donita Brady, Christie Towers, and Krishna Mudumbi

Photo of several Leading Edge fellows (all women scientists) smiling for a group photo (left to right): Dr. Jaye Gardiner, Dr. Joan Pulupa, Dr. Ally Nguyen, Dr. Melissa Pamula, Dr. Tina Termini, Dr. Ewa Bomba-Warzcak, and Dr. Tigist Tamir

Group photo of MOSAIC K99 fellows, the MOSAIC program organizer, and the co-directors of the ASCB MOSAIC Program. List of people in the photo (attempted left to right but folks are bunched): Front row: Tigist Tamir, Erica Rodriguez, Jaye Gardiner Middle row: Ewa Bomba-Warzcak, Jennifer Landino, Adelita Mendoza, Durre Muhammad, Leah Gates, Joan Pulupa, Evan Ratzan, Laura Newman, Kalynda Gonzales Stokes Back row: Mike Boyce, Karl-Frederic Vieux, Mary Munson, Chrystal Starbird

Photo of Leading Edge fellows (all women scientists many leading their own labs) around a candlelit table for dinner (left to right): Dr. Meghna Gupta, Dr. Tina Termini, Dr. Rebecca Adikes, Dr. Melissa Pamula, Dr. Lexy von Diezman , Dr. Ally Nguyen, Dr. Jaye Gardiner, Dr. Amelie Raz, and Dr. Joan Pulupa

My tenth ASCB/ Cell Bio meeting; my first meeting as a PI. I love the amazing community I have and am so excited for our new and future labs 🥰

Until next time! #CellBio2025

Come**

Screenshot of CellBio app. It reads: Spotlight: What’s next: Cell Biology from ASCB MOSAIC Program Alumni Location: 116 Date: Monday Dec 8 5:30PM Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes In this session, six alumni of the ASCB MOSAIC Program (AMP) will present their latest research on a range of cell biology topics. The goal of the NIH-funded MOSAIC program, now concluded, was to diversify the tenure track faculty at research-intensive universities nationwide. AMP alumni are leaders in both their subfields of cell biology and in advancing equity and inclusion in the academic biosciences. Learning objectives include gaining new knowledge of cutting-edge cell biology research and networking with rising-star speakers.

Article out by @statnews.com profiling the terminated MOSAIC K99 program even though the goals fulfilled what the NIH says are their priorities: www.statnews.com/2025/12/08/t...

If you’re at #CellBio2025 coming to the MOSAIC scholar session today at 5:30pm in room 116!

Screenshot of the Cell Bio 2025 app. It reads: Speaker Jaye Gardiner Professional Development: Thriving in Uncertain Times: Navigating Career and Funding Challenges @ Tuesday, Dec 9 4:00PM Information not in the screenshot - it’s in room 126A

I have one other panel on Tues @ 4PM in room 126A. We’re discussing navigating your career in challenging times - come by if you’re here! #CellBio2025

Group of 7 people smiling for a photo. From left to right the people are: Dr. Michael Boyce, Dr. Porsha Howell, Dr. Jaye Gardiner, Dr. Jennifer Landino, Dr. Joan Pulupa, Dr. Christine Vazquez, and Dr. Monica Quiones-Frias

Panel 1 at #CellBio2025 done! (And forgot to mention I was on a panel - whoops)

Thanks Mike Boyce and Monica Quiones-Frias for the invite and the 100+ people in attendance asking questions about the transition to independence.

Was very fun being on a panel with my friends in academia and industry!

So by meeting with students at the bottom of the course, and re-explains things, when they nod he tells them to explain it back to him.

‘You do not know something until you can explain it to your roommate’

Something that Dr. Dewsbury does is hold an “intervention week”

The way students have studied work until coming to a class that forces them out of passivity.

So he emphasizes the added value he provides by being in the classroom - why are they paying tuition when the content is available for free?

By the end of our PhD we’re trained to not listen.

We’re evaluated on how we participate (or are viewed like we participated); we’re trained for pacivity.

We’re not allowed to sit and process what we’ve heard.

First-Day Info Sheets: A Tool to Prompt Semester-Long Inclusive Teaching - PubMed What faculty do and say on the first day of class is crucial to establishing and maintaining an inclusive learning environment for the duration of the semester. First-day information sheets ("info sheets") are commonly used by instructors. By making simple modifications to this tool, we can gather m …

And when it comes to group work, it’s important to remember that students won’t self-select and know how to construct an effective working group. The groups are made intentionally using ‘First Day Info Sheets’: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32313598/

To counter the ‘look to your left/right - X% of you will fail’, Dr. Dewsbury instead points out “one might have their own business”, “become an attorney general”, etc.

A much more positive reframe because they are taking the class as a team and should support each other #CellBio2025

Inclusion isn’t anti- anything.

My role as a professor is to make sure to position you [the student] as best I can for you to do your best

This was funny - students don’t speak like academics. No student will come up to you and say ‘I don’t think an adequate sense of belonging has been fostered here’

Just gonna drop the gems here:

“If as an institution you don’t have intentionality in creating environments where students are challenged to go beyond their “like” spaces - they will spend 4 years and graduate without learning anything about the different aspects in America”

Picture of a man (Dr. Bryan Dewsbury) standing in front standing in front of a projected PowerPoint slide with the title “Education and Democracy: Making civic behaviors explicit in STEM courses)

Powerful words from Dr. Bryan Dewsbury (@dewsbury.bsky.social) from the #CellBio2025 Education keynote:

“When I stand in front of a classroom, I tell students that I am interested in being more than their destination to a final grade”

Trying to go back to my live tweeting ways (I guess it would be live skeeting now?) - sad I don’t get to see you this year!

Photo of a PowerPoint slide that reads: “what is ‘physiological cell biology’?” Underneath is a depiction of (left to right) gears, gears in a cell, a highlighted green cell in a liver. The corresponding words above it say molecular function <-> cellular organization <-> organismal context

Photo of a PowerPoint slide that reads “traders between simplicity and fidelity in cell biology” Underneath is a graph with simplicity on the X-axis and fidelity on y-axis. 4 points are within this space: 2D cell culture is high simplicity low fidelity, unicellular eukaryotes are high simplicity high fidelity, mammals are low simplicity high fidelity, and 3D cell culture is mid simplicity mid fidelity

First science session of #CellBio2025! 🧫🧪

Co-organized by @iaincheeseman.bsky.social and @abbybuch.bsky.social on the importance of the physiological context on studying cell biology. As a big fan of the ECM, I couldn’t agree more!

She strategically ate high sugar foods before chemo (kept it low between therapies) and was told not to expect any changes in 2 months. It was over halved in 2 months, undetectable in 4. She has two final treatments and scans this week. 🤯

With a paper on her experiment in review!

She hypothesized that the tumor was growing slowly and she need to get it to S phase to have the chemotherapy have the best chance.

“I need to hit as many cells as possible before any resistance can develop”

After getting a PET scan, she connected what was happening in her body (inoperable tumor) to her prior work on the cell cycle. Her goal was to come up with a protocol in four days before she started chemotherapy.

Using these principles and specifically looking for the positive carried her through being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer (PDAC).

An interesting point is talking about the patient perspective and how doctors don’t look at you or want to get to know you because in theory you’ll die soon

She talked about how community was formed faster when the composition of people were more diverse. Also from having such variable experiences leading into them becoming scientists (like abuse, multigenerational homes, etc) looking for the positives can be powerful in developing resilience

Main principles she taught students:

* Know your heart
* Look for the positive or the blessing in everything
* Embrace who you are and bring it to the table
* Show gratitude/finish well

#CellBio2025

Photo of a full audience of 100+ people listening to Dr. Maggie Werner Washburne who’s at the lectern. A PowerPoint slide is projected with a photo of students and on it is written: “Imagination: Principles: * Know your heart * Look for the positive or the blessing in everything * Embrace who you are and bring it to the table * Show gratitude/finish well”

Packed room for the opening mentoring keynote by Maggie Werner Washburne talking about the importance of imagination in science and persistence

#CellBio2025

A blurry, uncentered, and slightly askant photo of the Philadelphia skyline taken from a moving car

What’s up Philly?! It’s been 5 months but I’m back! Ready for @ascbiology.bsky.social #CellBio2025

Candid photo of Zara Weinberg. She has short red hair, bangs and glasses. She is laughing.

The Leading Edge Fellows gathered this week to celebrate Zara Weinberg, a beloved member of our community. Our 7th cohort of Leading Edge Fellows (2026) will be named in her honor.

The Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Cohort application is now open! Due Feb 2.

www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/