Professional Development

Fostering Authenticity and Cultural Awareness in Your Scientific Ecosystem

July 23, 2025

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT

Join SfN and The Grass Foundation for an exciting panel discussion on the importance of cultural competence in STEM. Each scientist brings their unique identities and cultural backgrounds into their professional space. These valuable assets can influence perceptions and leadership styles. In this webinar, panelists Brian Dias, Chanel Matney, and Tracey Hermanstyne will share their personal experiences and leadership strategies for navigating these dynamics in both academic and nonacademic environments. Moderated by Carmen Maldonado-Vlaar, the conversation will highlight the importance of authenticity and fostering a more inclusive and culturally aware scientific community.

Key Takeaways:

Appreciate the many identities you bring to your professional space.
Understand how these identities and cultural contexts influence leadership and communication.
Apply frameworks that consider these dynamics in your leadership approach.

Speakers

Brian Dias

Brian Dias, PhD, is an associate professor in the department of pediatrics at the USC Keck School of Medicine & Children's Hospital Los Angeles. He grew up and started his career in India. Dias earned his PhD from UT-Austin and completed two postdoc fellowships. He has been leading his research group since 2015 and earned the 2025 Bosco S. Tjan mentoring award and the 2023 HHMI Gilliam Fellowship in partnership with his graduate student, Layla Vasquez, to study how legacies of stress echo across generations.

Tracey Hermanstyne, PhD

Tracey Hermanstyne, PhD, is the assistant dean of the Academic Pathway Programs and an assistant professor in developmental biology at WashU Medicine. She received her bachelor's in biology from Howard University and her PhD in neuroscience from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She completed her postdoc at WashU Medicine and joined the developmental biology department as faculty in 2018 and the administration in 2022. Her research has primarily focused on how potassium channels regulate intrinsic neuronal excitability and daily rhythms in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the master circadian clock in mammals.

Carmen S. Maldonado-Vlaar, PhD

Carmen Maldonado-Vlaar, PhD, is a professor at the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras. She received her PhD in behavioral neuroscience from Northeastern University and continued with postdoc training at The Scripps Research Institute in the neuropharmacology department. Maldonado-Vlaar has been a faculty member of the biology department at the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras for 27 years. She has successfully mentored dozens of undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented minorities (URM) in the field of neuroscience. Her research focus is finding and characterizing potential therapeutic cellular targets that are important in cocaine addiction treatment and other mental disorders.

Chanel Matney, PhD

Chanel Matney, PhD, is a program manager at UCSF Bioethics, where she directs and supports research activities, including projects in health AI implementation. Previously, she managed high-impact science policy initiatives in brain health and was most recently a program officer at The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Her research focus includes clinical and research ethics, neuroscience, neurology, health AI, and neurotechnology. Matney received a PhD in neuroscience from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and received a BS in Neuroscience from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Who can attend this webinar? This webinar will be complimentary to SfN members and Grass fellows. Join or renew for access. This webinar is $15 for nonmembers.

Will this webinar be available on demand? Yes, this webinar will be available on demand one week from the live broadcast.

Will a certificate of attendance be offered for this event? No, SfN does not provide certificates of attendance for webinars.

How do I access the conference on the live day? After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the event link and the option to download calendar reminders.

What are the technology requirements for attending? This webinar will be hosted on Zoom Webinar. Instructions for joining and participating in a webinar can be found here.

Can I ask the presenters questions? Yes! You can submit any questions before the webinar through the registration form. During the webinar, you can submit questions through the Q&A box.

I have other questions not answered here. Email neuronline@sfn.org with any other questions.

Review SfN’s Code of Conduct, rules for virtual events in the Digital Learning Community Guidelines, and communications policies regarding dissemination of unpublished scientific data, listed below. SfN asks that conference attendees respect the sensitivity of information and data being presented that are not yet available to the public by following these guidelines:

Do not capture or publicly share details of any unpublished data presented.
If you are unsure whether data is unpublished, check with the presenter.
Respect presenters' wishes if they indicate that the information presented is not to be shared.

Fostering Authenticity and Cultural Awareness in Your Scientific Ecosystem

Speakers

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