Whether we're in academia or industry, BIPOC exist in predominantly white spaces and can feel isolated and alone. How do we figure out how to build a support system? Whether it be peers, employee resource groups, or mentors, join SIS in a panel discussion on how we find our community so that we can thrive.

On our panel, Iris Montes, Charmaine Nganje, and Vanessa Yanez will share how they have founded and created spaces for themselves in academia and biotech. The discussion will be moderated by SIS co-founder Dr. Minmin Yen. Please see below for their bios, and we hope you will join us at this event!

Speakers

Iris Montes (she/her)

Iris is a third-year graduate student at Tufts University studying protein quality control in the Raman Lab. Iris received her bachelor's in science in Cell and Molecular Biology from UC Merced. At UC Merced Iris was devoted to diversity, equity and inclusivity (DEI) initiatives as a member of the Society for Native Americans and Hispanics in the Sciences (SACNAS) At Tufts Iris now participates in various DEI initiatives including the Tufts SACNAS chapter.

Charmaine Nganje (she/her)

Charmaine is a Maryland native with JA roots and is very close to her family. She stayed in Maryland and graduated with a degree in Cell & Molecular Biology at Towson University. Charmaine then completed a Post Bac at Tufts in the Immunology department and currently holds a position at Gritsone Bio as a clinical research associate. Charmaine is passionate about mentorship and increasing DEI efforts in biotech spaces, so she founded an affinity group at her company with coworkers. Outside of work and SIS, she enjoys cooking, ballroom dancing, and biking around Boston.

Vanessa Yanez (she/her)

Vanessa Yanez is a Ph.D. candidate at Tufts University in the Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology program. Vanessa received her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University and was also an NIH-funded PREP Scholar at Tufts University. She currently works on developing non-viral delivery vectors for CRISPR-Cas9 use in the retina to treat inherited retinal degenerative diseases.

Moderator

Minmin (Mimi) Yen, Ph.D., MPH (she/her)

Mimi is passionate about bringing innovation to the world’s most vulnerable communities to reduce global health inequities. As the CEO and co-founder of the early-stage biotech startup PhagePro, she has focused on reducing antimicrobial resistance in resource-limited settings. An advocate for DEI in both biotech and global health communities, she strives to center the voices and the needs of the most marginalized.

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