President Biden appoints Dr. Bevlee A. Watford to the National Science Board

President Biden has appointed Bevlee A. Watford to the National Science Board. The National Science Board has two important roles. First, it establishes the policies of NSF within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the President and the Congress. In this capacity, the Board identifies issues that are critical to NSF’s future, approves NSF’s strategic budget directions and the annual budget submission to the Office of Management and Budget, and approves new major programs and awards. The second role of the Board is to serve as an independent body of advisors to both the President and the Congress on policy matters related to science and engineering and education in science and engineering. In addition to major reports, the NSB also publishes occasional policy papers or statements on issues of importance to U.S. science and engineering. The NSB is made up of 25 Members appointed by the President. The NSF Director is an ex officio Member. Members serve six-year terms.

Dr. Bevlee A. Watford is the Associate Dean for Equity and Engagement and Professor of Engineering Education in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. As the founding executive director of the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED), she has worked to broaden participation in engineering through outreach and student support activities. She has secured more than $17 million dollars in funding and support for CEED and other student initiatives. Her research activities have focused on the recruitment and retention of students in engineering, with a particular emphasis on minoritized students. CEED received the 2010 Claire Felbinger Diversity Award from ABET and the 2011 NSBE-ExxonMobil Impact award for implementing successful research-based efforts to improve retention. In 2019, the College of Engineering was recognized as a Bronze Exemplar institution in the ASEE Deans Diversity Recognition program, largely based on CEED’s activities.

From 2005-2007, Watford served as a program manager in the Division of Undergraduate Education for the National Science Foundation, returning from 2013-2015 to serve as the program director for broadening participation in the Division of Engineering Education and Centers. In 2010, she was elected as a Fellow of ASEE and she served as ASEE president for the 2017-2018 year. Watford was the 2004-2005 President of the Women in Engineering ProActive Network and has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Administrators.

Katherine Johnson scholarship aids African American students

A new scholarship created as a tribute to NASA pioneer Katherine Johnson will benefit African American students studying math or science within West Virginia University’s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

Inspired by the movie “Hidden Figures,” alumna Deborah Miller established the endowed Katherine Johnson Math Scholarship to honor the late mathematician, who died Feb. 24.

The scholarship will be awarded to undergraduate students within the Eberly College, with first preference given to African American students in the Department of Mathematics. If no math students qualify, students pursuing degrees in physics, astronomy and statistics will be considered.

Miller’s $50,000 gift supports efforts by the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to boost scholarship aid for students from underrepresented groups as part of the WVU Foundation’s “We Are Stronger Together” fundraising initiative.

Miller said she wanted to show her gratitude for Johnson’s groundbreaking work and encourage students with a similar gift for numbers.

“Katherine is my hero,” Miller said. “I’m so glad there was such a woman who could inspire us.”

[SOURCE: REGISTER HERALD]

Tuskegee University develops new breast cancer test

A team led by Tuskegee University researchers have developed a new way to detect the most aggressive and fatal form of breast cancer.

The university and researchers hope the new method may hold the potential for earlier detection and more informed treatment decisions.

The breakthrough was detailed in an article in PLOS ONE,a publication tied to the Public Library of Science. The article, “AR Negative Triple Negative or ‘Quadruple Negative’ Breast Cancers in African-American Women Have an Enriched Basal and Immune Signature,” shows researchers have developed a fourth testing marker to complement the other three biomarker-based methods.

Dr. Clayton Yates, a professor of biology and director of Tuskegee University’s multidisciplinary Center for Biomedical Research, published the team's findings. Support for the research come through the National Cancer Institute’s Comprehensive Partnerships to Advance Cancer Health Equity program, otherwise known as the U54 program.

“Scientifically speaking, our research suggests that the expression of the androgen receptor (the receptor for testosterone), should be added to the current set of prognostic markers — estrogen, progesterone and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 — used to test for classify and determine the aggressiveness of breast cancer,” Yates said.

“As with any fight, you have to know your enemy. Imagine going into battle not knowing if you needed a BB gun, a shotgun, or a bazooka,” Yates said. “With this additional testing option, physicians will be able to better define the enemy and develop a more precise treatment plan. This, in turn, promises to be more effective for the patient — not to mention safer and less expensive — in the long run.”

Breast cancer currently is the second-most common cancer among females. The new testing method shows significant promise for detecting the most aggressive types of breast cancer, especially among black women. Black women are more likely than white women to be diagnosed at later stages in life and are 40 percent more likely to die from breast cancer after initial diagnosis.

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NASA set to honor Katherine Johnson with new building

NASA Langley Research Center has named their new Computational Research Facility building after Katherine G. Johnson, who started working for NASA in 1953 as a mathematician who helped launch America into the space race with the Soviet Union. Her story was told in the Hidden Figures where she was portrayed by Taraji Henson.

Katherine Johnson just turned 99 years old, and her life is on a roll.

She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, spoke on stage at the Academy Awards and saw her career developed into a best-selling book and a hit movie adaptation. She will get her own LEGO figure later this year.

Next up: On Sept. 22, NASA Langley Research Center — where she worked for more than three decades as a “human computer” in the early days of the nation’s space program — will formally open a new building named in her honor. The Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility will be a state-of-the-art lab for innovative research and development supporting NASA’s exploration missions.

“It’s a perfect storm in that we were building a computational research facility, and that’s what she did as a human computer,” said Mike Finneran, from NASA Langley’s communications department. “It made sense to name it after her. It fits, and it’s the right thing to do.”

Read more: NASA Langley set to honor Katherine Johnson with new building