Gender Equity: Closing the Gender Gap
Revisit the talks and Q&A using the link above, and/or check out the video and bios below.
About the Panelists
Keke Fairfax, PhD
Twitter: @LabFairfax
Keke Fairfax received her AB from the University of Chicago in 2003 and her PhD from Yale in Microbial Pathogenesis in 2009. Her dissertation work focused on identifying novel fatty acid binding proteins in the human hookworm Ancylostoma ceylanicum. She completed her post-doctoral training in Schistosoma mansoni immuno-parasitology with Edward Pearce and Gwendalyn Randolph in 2014. Dr. Fairfax began her independent laboratory at Purdue University in 2014 and moved to the University of Utah in 2018. The Fairfax laboratory at the University of Utah broadly focuses on using the helminth parasite Schistosoma mansoni as a tool to understand both, the relative contributions of schistosome antigen vs IL-4 in inducing host immuno-modulation, and the complex interplay between lymphoid and stromal cells necessary to develop an optimal T and B cell memory response. Under this umbrella we currently have three main projects: 1) Understanding the immunological implications of maternal schistosomiasis; 2) Dissecting the role of IL-4 in shaping the cellular environment of peripheral lymph nodes during homeostasis and antigenic challenge; 3) Delineating the mechanistic role of antigen driven immunological re-programing in helminth-induced protection from metabolic diseases.
Kirstin Sylvester
Twitter: @kirty_michelle
Kirstin is a 2nd year doctoral student in Oklahoma State University’s Counseling Psychology program. She received her master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Mercer University and the University of Kentucky, respectively. She is a nationally certified counselor, and her research interests include resilience, stress and coping, and underrepresented women in STEM fields.
Monkgomotsi Maseng
A Medical laboratory Scientist currently working with the School of Allied Health Profession, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Botswana. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Laboratory Medicine from RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia (2009) and a Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology from Institute of Health Sciences, Gaborone (2000). A self-motivated hard working individual with passion on pathogenesis and immunology of infectious diseases as well as antimicrobial drug resistance.
She is passionate about gender equity in science and was awarded Gender Equity Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI) grant by SANTHE to raise awareness in gender equity in science in Botswana. She has also won Telescope award from International Astronomy Union that will be donated to one of the schools in the country as one way of promoting science in the country.