Addressing the Leaky Pipeline in Science: Issues Facing New Moms

This panel featuring mothers in early stages of their careers — including graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and early career faculty — addresses some of the issues facing new moms in STEM. Panelists share personal experiences, identify problems, and propose potential solutions, covering topics including:

• Overcoming bias and normalizing parenthood in academia.
• Becoming a parent within your first year of joining a faculty.
• Handling pressure to be perfect.
• Asking for what you need.
• Finding a support network, such as a graduate student group, advisers, or your lab.

• Connecting with your personal values to help you make important career decisions.

After watching the workshop, read this personal perspective from a neuroscientist on bringing her daughter into the lab and finding joy in having a family and a science career.

Speakers

Denise Cai, PhD

Denise Cai is an assistant professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Cai's main research interests lie in how memories are formed and updated across the lifespan. She received both her BS and PhD from the University of California, San Diego. She completed her postdoctoral training at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Anahita Hamidi, PhD

Anahita Hamidi received her PhD in neuroscience from the University of California, Davis. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow with Steve Ramirez at Boston University. She works full-time as a senior science writer at the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.

Jessica Barson, PhD

Jessica Barson is an assistant professor at the Drexel University College of Medicine. Barson’s main research interests lie in the behavioral neurobiology of ingestive behavior. She received her BA in psychology from Columbia College, Columbia University and her PhD in psychology and neuroscience from Princeton University. She completed her postdoctoral training in behavioral neurobiology at The Rockefeller University.

Jamie Krueger

Jamie Krueger is a graduate student at the University of California, Davis. She previously was a laboratory manager at the University of Michigan. Krueger's main research interests lie in learning and memory. She received her undergraduate degree in zoology with a concentration on cell and developmental biology from Michigan State University and her MS in cellular/molecular biology from Eastern Michigan University. She is currently completing her graduate training.

Kaliris Salas-Ramirez, PhD

Kaliris Salas-Ramirez is an assistant medical professor at the CUNY School of Medicine in New York City. Salas-Ramirez’s main research focus is understanding sex-specific interventions for cognitive decline resulting from drug exposure during different stages of development, specifically looking at the therapeutic potential of taurine after cocaine exposure. She received her BS in biology from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, her doctorate in neuroscience from Michigan State University, and her postdoctoral degree in pharmacology at The City College of New York.

Rebecca Calisi Rodríguez, PhD

Calisi Rodríguez is faculty in the department of neurobiology, physiology, and behavior in the College of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Davis. Calisi received her PhD in integrative biology from the University of California, Berkeley. She was awarded a competitive postdoctoral fellowship from the National Science Foundation and the UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship. She is expanding her research program to encompass the study of science communication to support diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM.