The Graduate Student Association (GSA) and the Graduate College welcome the Drexel community to join us for our next Scholars Share: Conversations on Graduate Student Research to hear from current graduate students and postdocs about their research endeavors and a faculty moderator who will facilitate questions and discussion from the audience. Lunch is provided.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020
12-1PM
Graduate Student Lounge
Main Building, Lower Level, Room 010A
3141 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Download Event Flyer [PDF]

Watch the Recording [YouTube]

View Event Photos [Flickr]

Featured Speakers:

Elijah Davis

PhD Program in Microbiology and Immunology
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies
College of Medicine

Charged Up and Ready to Go: Tackling the Balancing Act of Grad School

Elijah H. Davis is a second-year doctoral student from Bowie, Maryland. He attended the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), where he majored in biological sciences and minored in psychology. After graduating in spring 2017, he sought to gain more research experience. Later that year, he was accepted into the Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) at Virginia Commonwealth University. This program offered a year of research-driven study along with graduate classes for underrepresented groups. During this time, he studied the relationship between helminthic infections and allergic pathologies.

Recently, Elijah has begun conducting research within Drexel’s Microbiology and Immunology department with Dr. Sonia Navas-Martin. His current project investigates Toll-Like Receptor-induced responses within microglia, the innate immune cell of the Central Nervous System. Other interests include understanding host-pathogen relationships and mechanisms of disease pathogenesis. Outside the lab, he aims to foster diversity within the S.T.E.M fields, focusing on the youth. Elijah has attended national conferences devoted to aiding underrepresented groups, participates in DUCOM’s Diversity and Inclusive Excellence committee, and mentors children at his hometown’s summer S.T.E.M Academy.

Rasheda Likely

PhD Candidate in Educational Leadership and Learning Technologies, with a concentration in STEM Education
School of Education

Lotions and Potions: A Culturally Sustaining Hair Care Science Curriculum

Rasheda Likely received her Bachelors of Science and Masters of Science in Biology from the University of North Florida. Before moving to Philadelphia, she worked in Virology for the Florida Department of Health for three years where she performed testing of patients exposed to the Zika virus. Rasheda is currently in her third year in the PhD program at Drexel University focusing on STEM education. While at Drexel, she has been a teacher assistant for the Biology department, a contributing member of the Critical Conversations in Urban Education Committee, weekly after-school curriculum developer and instructor for several Philadelphia after-school programs, research assistant for two National Science Foundation (NSF) funded projects, Philly Scientists and STEM+C and Hip Hop, and principal investigator for two Department of Education funded projects, Sports Scientists and Elementary Science Enrichment. Her research interests are focused on decolonization in science education for minoritized middle school girls through experiential learning activities.

Jasmine Peake

PhD Program in Molecular and Cell Biology and Genetics
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies
College of Medicine

Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity as a political statement

Jasmine Peake is a 6th year PhD student in the Molecular and Cell Biology and Genetics (MCBG) program. She is completing her thesis under the guidance of Dr. Eishi Noguchi on the Characterization of Acetaldehyde-dependent replicative DNA damage response in the esophagus. She is planning to graduate in May 2020, and she aspires to be an independent scientist and academic advisor to underrepresented graduate students in the fields of molecular and cancer biology.

Faculty Moderator:

Michael Ryan, PhD

Director of Academic Support, Graduate Pipeline Programs
Graduate College
Associate Department Head of Graduate Studies
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Associate Teaching Professor
College of Engineering