They were born in different countries, grew up speaking different languages and study in different fields. But 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis鈥 three new CAMPOS faculty scholars have at least one key thing in common: Marie Cuevas Heffern, Miriam A. Nu帽o and Kara Rudolph all work to promote diversity in the STEM fields 鈥 science, technology, engineering and math.
CAMPOS stands for the Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives on Science, which has brought in 21 faculty scholars in a 5-year-old recruiting effort that focuses on building diversity in STEM. The program began with a focus on Latina scholars and has since expanded to other populations.
鈥淭his program really speaks to my own core goals and my passions,鈥 Chancellor Gary S. May said at a welcome reception for the new scholars last week. May, who took office in August, added: 鈥溞掳拿帕喜誓谀恍畔 Davis鈥 dedication to diversity and inclusion are actually a key reason I was attracted to the university and decided to come here.鈥
MORE ABOUT CAMPOS
Watch the above video for an overview of CAMPOS and the role it plays in inspiring and encouraging students.
Ken Burtis, faculty advisor to the chancellor and provost, said the CAMPOS faculty scholars鈥 unique perspectives and experiences can only improve the university.
鈥淓ven though universities are most readily thought of as physical campuses or a particular set of academic programs, the heart of any university is the people who make it run and in particular its faculty,鈥 Burtis said.
CAMPOS originated in 2012 under , funded by the National Science Foundation. Phil Kass, vice provost of Academic Affairs, cited these accomplishments: Nearly half of all new faculty hires the last five years have been women, and 19 percent have been underrepresented minorities.
鈥淎s CAMPOS has now matured and is into its fifth year, it does more than just benefit people who are immediately here,鈥 Kass said. 鈥淚t sends a message to the entire campus: This is important, this is valuable, this works and we need to keep doing more and more of it.鈥
The new faculty scholars
She said that kind of environment would be unique anywhere else, but at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis it鈥檚 the norm.
鈥淭he students don鈥檛 realize it鈥檚 such a cool thing,鈥 Heffern said.
Nutritional biology is one of the areas where she hopes to collaborate. In her native Philippines, she鈥檚 seen hospitals so ill-equipped they can only heal by addressing the food patients eat.
Her research program seeks to define and control the unique and dynamic chemistry of transition metals in biology from the molecular level to the whole animal. She seeks to investigate the bioinorganic chemistry of hormones in area of research that she terms 鈥渕etalloendocrinology.鈥 Understanding the influence of metals in facilitating and disturbing this biochemical balance will impact approaches to diet, pharmacology, and toxicology as they apply to endocrine disorders spanning diabetes, liver disease and cancer.
She acknowledges chemistry can be a challenging subject for some students, especially those transferring from community colleges. Most of the students in the first class she鈥檚 teaching are transfer students, and she hopes to help students like them make a smooth transition into chemistry and other fields of study.
Most recently Heffern was a postdoctoral fellow at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Berkeley. She earned her Ph.D. from Northwestern University, and earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree from the University of Southern California.
Nu帽o鈥檚 research interests focus on the design and analysis of observational studies, primarily in the context of public health research. Her work centers on three areas: health services research, causal inference methods and the application of mathematical models with observational data for the prediction of patient outcomes.
In collaboration with surgeons, radiation oncologists and neurologists, Nu帽o鈥檚 work aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of patient outcomes, quality of life and access to care for patients diagnosed with cancer and other conditions.
The first in her family to attend college, Nu帽o said she is where she is today because of the excellent mentors she鈥檚 had along the way. She recalls how her Ph.D. advisor at Cornell University helped her adjust to that school.
鈥淪till to this day I call him and he picks up the phone and provides me with guidance,鈥 Nu帽o said. 鈥淚 would like to be that type of mentor for my students.鈥
She came to 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis partly to have the opportunity to mentor students and support their academic advancement in a meaningful way.
Prior to joining 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, Nu帽o worked as an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She has done postdoctoral research at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息LA and the Harvard School of Public Health, and earned her Ph.D. at Cornell University.
鈥淚鈥檓 trying to do whatever I can to make it not such an enormous contrast,鈥 she said.
She is a social epidemiologist who applies and develops causal inference methods to studying social and contextual influences on mental health, substance use, and violence.
Speaking to her involvement in 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis鈥 Violence Prevention Research Program, she said she hopes her close proximity to the state Capitol can lead to relationships with people who can help make a difference in reducing violence.
鈥淐alifornia can hopefully be a model,鈥 Rudolph said.
Rudolph was most recently a postdoctoral scholar at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Berkeley. She earned a Ph.D. and a Master of Health Science from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a bachelor鈥檚 degree from the University of Michigan.
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