“For me, this all began when a friend of mine, who was an NIH Prep Scholar and of Cuban descent, reached out to ask advice about applying to graduate school,” says JP Flores, a fourth year PhD student at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. “Specifically, they were asking me if I knew anyone with their background who had ‘made it,’ and it was then that I realized the real impact that having representative role models has on aspiring scientists.” Indeed, although science is a global enterprise with global consequences, disparities between the more developed Global North and developing Global South persist at all levels of the scientific enterprise—where they not only influence who gets to practice science, but also who reaps the benefits of scientific progress.
Since his early realization, JP and collaborators chose to tackle this crisis by bringing attention to historically marginalized members of the scientific community and their work. After interviewing Dr. Tina Termini—an assistant professor in the Translational Science and Therapeutics Division at Fred Hutch who published a widely-read blog post highlighting 100 inspiring US-based Hispanic and Latinx scientists—on his podcast, JP got involved in further efforts to highlight these scientists. One result of this project was the Atlas of Inspiring Hispanic and Latinx Scientists, an evolving (and non-exhaustive) database hosted by Fred Hutch which lists accomplished Hispanic and Latinx faculty in US academic institutions. As JP notes, “we hope that this resource can act as a ‘repository of role models’ to students starting their scientific careers and fight back against the reduced visibility that Hispanic and Latinx researchers endure over the course of their careers.”
At the same time, however, JP and others had dreams to take this effort even further. Partnering with Dr. Termini and seven other students from around the world, the group sought to move beyond the borders of the US and established the Atlas of Inspiring Latin American Scientists. This database will at first include biomedical researchers working in Latin America, with an emphasis on faculty who trained in the Global North but then returned to build their careers in the Global South. Beyond providing a platform to highlight the work of these highly accomplished but often overlooked researchers, the team sees multiple potential uses for such a database.
“I was born, raised, and got my bachelors’ degree in Colombia, but pursued graduate work abroad,” notes Maria Hincapié-Otero, a PhD student at the University of Helsinki in Finland and one member of the Atlas team. “So it was really quite a culture shock transitioning between these different environments; I was lucky to find some friends who did their PhDs abroad who helped me navigate the process, but even just seeing examples of people like me who managed similar situations and went on to do great things is incredibly motivating.”
“Although I never personally experienced science in Latin America, my involvement in efforts to foster community among Latinx researchers here in the US opened my eyes to how difficult these efforts can be, and how privileged we are in some of these well-funded US institutions,” says team member Dr. Joss Landazuri, who recently completed her PhD in the Human Biology Division at Fred Hutch (and whose name may be familiar to longtime Science Spotlight fans).
“Beyond providing inspiration for scientists-in-training,” notes team member Camila Arango, a PhD student at UNC Chapel Hill, “one of the goals of this database is to help these researchers establish and maintain collaborations, many of whom are dealing with research infrastructures which make that much more difficult than in the Global North.”
“And even beyond these things,” adds Maria, “we hope that this database can play a small part in changing some stigmas associated with Latin America—to help Latin America show up on peoples’ radars for the right reasons instead of the wrong ones.”
The Atlas team are eyeing a launch date this September (in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month), and they’ve had no shortage of challenges so far. “As you can imagine,” says JP, “the reason we think this atlas is important is because these researchers are difficult to find and connect with—so building the atlas in the first place is a huge challenge for exactly that reason.” Indeed, finding researchers in locales with poor research infrastructure often means navigating personal and professional networks, or out-of-date and non-English lab websites (if these websites even exist in the first place!). Nevertheless, the team’s staunch belief in their mission gives them confidence that they will overcome any obstacle in their path. “On one hand, we’re not going to fix the global scientific equity and inclusion problem with this one database,” admits JP, “but we see this Atlas as an early and necessary step to bring us closer to that goal—this is just the second installment in a much larger movement.” Regarding training the next generation of scientists and leaders, the Atlas team rally behind the idea that ‘you can’t be what you can’t see.’ I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to live in a world where someone’s background doesn’t keep them from achieving their dreams.
Do you know someone who may benefit from being featured in the Atlas of Inspiring Latin American Scientists? The Atlas team is currently accepting nominations and would appreciate your help to make the Atlas a success!
The Atlas of Inspiring Latin American Scientists is a student-led initiative with collaborators across the Americas and Europe. The team includes Joselyn Landazuri Vinueza, PhD, from the University of Washington; JP Flores, PhD candidate, and Camila Arango, PhD student, both at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Maria Hincapié Otero, PhD student at the University of Helsinki; Esteban Abeyta, MD student at the University of New Mexico; Karen Ponce, undergraduate student at Universidad de los Valles; and Mia Somocurcio, undergraduate student at Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas.
Science Spotlight writer David Sokolov is a graduate student in the Sullivan Lab at the Fred Hutch. He studies how cancer cells modify their metabolism to facilitate rapid proliferation and accommodate tumor-driving mitochondrial defects. He's originally from the east coast and has bachelors' and masters' degrees from West Virginia University. Outside of the lab, you'll find him enjoying the outdoors, playing music, or raising composting worms in his front yard.
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