Conference participants networking"Is a PhD for Me?”, a conference for students with disabilities who are contemplating applying to graduate school in the biomedical sciences was held on Saturday, April 14th. The event drew students from UC Berkeley, UC Davis, San Francisco State University and Mills College.

Featured speakers included Bill Burkholder, Scientific Program Management at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, and Mona Minkara, Postdoc at the University of Minnesota. Both described their career paths and strategies for success in the face of visual impairments. The event also featured panel discussions with the director of the UC Berkeley Disabled Students Program, Karen Nielson, as well as with graduate students and faculty. Discussions focused on strategies for applying to and succeeding in graduate school. Rounding out the event were science talks from UC Berkeley faculty members Diana Bautista from MCB and John Dueber from Bioengineering.

Susan Marqusee speaking.
Susan Marqusee speaking about the benefits of attending graduate school.
Sponsors of the conference included several T32 training programs, including: The Molecular Basis of Cell Function, Neuroscience, Chemical Biology, and Biophysics. The event was also sponsored by QB3.