Transforming the Face of Science

For twenty years, the Fellowships in Research and Science Teaching (FIRST) program at Emory University and the Atlanta University Center Schools has been changing the face of science, helping to ensure the next generation of science educators and researchers accurately reflect America’s diversity. FIRST is funded by the IRACDA program at NIH and supports postdoctoral fellows in integrated training in both biomedical research and teaching.   Nearly half of the ~200 FIRST alumni are African-American and three-quarters are women. They teach and do science in over 100 colleges and universities, in pharmaceutical companies, federal research programs, and disease foundations in 20 different states and the UK. FIRST fellows are making a difference.

In February 2020, alumni gathered to celebrate FIRST and host a symposium on becoming a scientist in the 21st century that explored the progress that has been made and what still needs to change in strengthening and diversifying science research and education in America.