Cohort Spotlight: ASBMB
Name: Ciearra Smith
Professional Society: American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB)
Why did you want to join ACCESS+?
I wanted to join ACCESS+ as it allowed opportunity to learn and share DEI best practices with other Scientific Societies, as well as use evidence-based approaches to enhance ASBMB’s DEI initiatives. ASBMB wants to enhance their DEI efforts, so gaining insight from DEI leaders in ACCESS+ and other Scientific Societies will be crucial to achieve our goals in the DEI space. Additionally, having a community to lean on for advice, that is also passionate about DEI, is a huge benefit of being a part of ACCESS+.
What is a strength of your Professional Society when it comes to DEI work?
One strength of the ASBMB, when it comes to DEI work, is that we have the NIH-funded Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) program that supports postdoctoral researchers from diverse backgrounds in their transition into independent faculty positions. The ASBMB is one of the three Scientific Societies that have the MOSAIC program. The Society supports these MOSAIC scholars by providing faculty coaches for advising, programming that focuses on lab management, mentoring across differences, discussions centering on race and mental health in STEM, etc. It is an honor to be able to support these early career scientists, in an effort to increase biomedical workforce diversity.
What is one DEI resource you’d like to share?
I, along with a couple of my colleagues, recently completed the University of South Florida’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace Certificate. I learned a lot from this course and highly recommend this DEI resource if your organization wants to enhance their DEI efforts.
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