For Colleagues

Diversity Statement: Student populations are changing across the country. It’s essential we identify barriers that can lead to systemic inequality or injustice. Feel free to use my statement as inspiration.

Teaching Statement: No matter an R1 or a SLAC, teaching is essential. Feel free to use my statement as inspiration.

Diversity Statement Workshop: Slides designed to help you write your diversity statement.

For Trainees

Undergraduate Opportunities: This is a list programs I’ve written letters of recommendations for. This ranges from summer research experiences to medical school. Browsing it may help you find something you’re interested in.

NSF REU Programs: This is a list of all the NSF-funded summer undergraduate programs across the country.

Summer research & PREP program list: This list was created by Penn’s PennPORT IRACDA fellows and lists some excellent paid summer internship opportunities along with PREP programs. PREP programs are for students who need a little more research experience after graduation before applying to PhD programs. They usually pay around $35K for 1-2 years and provide a lot of training, professional development, and research opportunities to launch into a PhD program.

Pathways to Science Database: This website has a list of opportunities you can apply to for EVERY career stage, especially summer research programs (REUs).

Dr. Alex Lang’s Guide to the NSF GRFP: This is by far the best guidance I’ve ever seen for writing the GRFP. It literally gives you a database of successful applicant materials.

A Letter to Aspiring Vet School Students: This is a letter of advice written by former Rutgers Camden Biology student Alexis Massey. As a first-gen student, she felt like she could use more advice and guidance on her path to vet school. After getting into the University of Pennsylvania’s vet school, she created a guide for future applicants.

Interviewing for a PhD in the Biomedical Sciences: This is a guide for preparing for your PhD interviews. It provides my perspective on how you can navigate preparation, what to expect, and strategies for success.

Course Syllabi

Each time I teach a class, I make modifications to its content and structure. Below, you can you find previous syllabi for the courses I have taught. It will not be the same design when you take it, but it will be similar.

• Honors Neuroscience of the Opioid Epidemic Lab in a Box
• Neurobiology II
• Neuroscience I
• Neurobiology of Behavior
• Communicating Biological Science
• Neuroscience of the Opioid Epidemic
• Current Topics
• Principles and Practices of Biological Research CURE lab
• Statistics in Biological Science
• Exploring Careers in Biology
• Pathophysiology
• Neuroscience of the Opioid Epidemic

Student Loan Forgiveness

As a scientist from a low-income background, I’ve got tons of student loan debt. It’s not easy, but did you know that you qualify for the public service loan forgiveness (PSLF) program if you stayed in academia? All those years paying your student loan while you were a postdoc or faculty count toward the ten years. But if for some reason they didn’t count (mine didn’t because I had the wrong type of federal student loan), you have until November of 2022 to fill out a special form to MAKE them count. Cory Turner from NPR has a great rundown of this (tweet). I’ll be posting more about this soon!