Ben Black attributes his early fascination with science to his fifth-grade teacher, a former industrial chemist, who lost a finger in a lab explosion. Black explains, “I can probably credit my teacher at the time, Al Nubling. He was just an incredible teacher—the best teacher I had in the…
Major grants will support five pioneering early-career biomedical scientists. The Rita Allen Foundation has named its 2022 class of Rita Allen Foundation Scholars, celebrating five early-career leaders in the biomedical sciences whose research holds exceptional promise for revealing new pathways to advance human health. The selected Scholars will receive…
Joyce Yen, a resource partner for the Civic Science Fellows program and Director of the University of Washington’s ADVANCE Center for Institutional Change, has dedicated her career to improving the STEM ecosystem for advancing underrepresented minorities in science and engineering. In February, Joyce was awarded a Presidential Awardee for Excellence…
Four pioneering early-career scientists will receive support to explore the biology of pain. The Rita Allen Foundation has named the 2021 class of Award in Pain Scholars, celebrating four early-career leaders in the biomedical sciences whose research holds exceptional promise for revealing new pathways to understand and treat chronic pain.
With support from the Rita Allen Foundation, First Draft News has published a series of reports that analyze the relationship between misinformation and vaccine hesitancy among communities of color. Last summer, First Draft News released the report, Covid-19 vaccines: A leap of faith and the power of trust among…
It was in high school that Steven Prescott first held a brain in his hands. It belonged to a fetal pig that he was dissecting in a biology course, and he remembers staring at it and marveling at how the human brain, though it functions similarly to a pig…
"I remember realizing when I wanted to become a scientist, after watching Cosmos: A Personal Voyage,” says Ted Price, reflecting on his early-childhood watching of Carl Sagan’s award-winning PBS program. The show led Price to start reading popular-science books for kids and inspired his goal of becoming an astrophysicist.
Pioneering civic science initiative announces 21 leaders from diverse demographic, cultural, and professional backgrounds who will join a community working to strengthen the role of science in public life. The 2021-23 Civic Science Fellows program—designed to create new partnerships, practices, and knowledge to advance meaningful, inclusive engagement on issues at…
During a recent episode of “The Pain Beat”—a monthly podcast hosted by the Pain Research Forum that provides a space for pain investigators to discuss important ideas in their field—a group of pain researchers, science communicators, and civic science advocates, including Rita Allen Foundation’s President and…
A two-day workshop supported by the Rita Allen Foundation brought together practitioners committed to civic science to discuss how scientists can work with local communities to address pressing environmental issues. The workshop highlighted challenges for community science initiatives such as funding prospects, establishing trust between professional and…