Selection Committee

The best abstracts will be selected by a team of experts in science communication and will be invited to give a talk on the day of the Symposium!

Laurence Clement 

Laurence Clement directs the Academic Career Development Program at the Office of Career and Professional Development at UCSF. She holds a Ph.D. in Endocrinology and Cell Interactions from Université Paris-Sud, France. She was an international postdoctoral fellow at UCSF and briefly worked with a biotechnology company as a postdoc. She also trained in Scientific Teaching through the SEPAL lab at San Francisco State University.

Her role at OCPD involves developing and teaching courses and workshops to prepare research trainees for academic careers at both research- and teaching-intensive institutions. She also offers individual advising sessions to students and fellows. She has experience developing curriculum, teaching underrepresented students, developing educational video and web-based resources, and managing grant-funded projects in academia through her positions as Associate Director of iBiology and Adjunct Faculty and Program Manager at City College of San Francisco and at Bio-Link.

 

 

Jeannine Cuevas 

 

Jeannine Cuevas is the communications director of the UCSF Graduate Division and Student Academic Affairs.

She is not a scientist, but she is an ardent science advocate, and in her role at UCSF she often has to translate scientific language into everyday language. Before coming to UCSF about nine years ago, Jeannine managed and promoted an international literary award, the Kiriyama Prize. She has also worked as a Russian language interpreter and translator.

 

Patti Meyer

Patti Meyer serves the PhD and Postdoctoral Scholars at UCSF who are seeking non-academic careers at the Office of Career Development at UCSF. Meyer earned her PhD in Medical Anthropology at the University of Kentucky, her Master’s degree in Anthropology from San Francisco State University, a Master of Science in Higher Education Administration from Southern Illinois University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Nebraska.

She is interested in meeting the needs of the life scientists and the social and population scientists by providing well-timed relevant programs, useful web-based resources and one-on-one counseling that helps students take action to move along their career path. Meyer has delivered services to students at a variety of colleges and universities for over twenty years. These included her work with an NSF-funded, Bay Area-based initiative to improve science training for K-12 teachers, and as coordinator of the Women’s Health Internship program at the National Center in Excellence in Women’s Health at UCSF.

 

Kris Rebillot

Kris Rebillot, the Buck Institute’s Director of Communications, started her career as a news reporter in radio and television. Her degree is in Journalism. She has also been a video producer, working with healthcare and biotechnology clients. She came to the Buck in 2003 and developed its first media relations program. She also produces external communications (brochures, annual reports), acts as content maven for the Buck website and helps host public events. She enjoys working with Buck scientists, helping translate their work for the general public. She especially likes it when Buck scientists are quoted in major newspaper and magazine articles and are included in documentaries.

 

  Claire Spafford

Claire Spafford is the Science Educator at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging.

Claire has an M.S. in Geology and an M.A. in Educational Studies, and is motivated by sharing the explanatory power of science with all learners.

She has years of experience teaching workshops and designing curriculum in museum settings.

 

Ron Vale

Ron is a Professor Dept. of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at UCSF and an Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His lab studies spatial organization, movement, and signaling within cells.

Ron founded iBiology in 2006 and continues to oversee the project as PI, President, and Chairman of the Board. Ron is a Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His lab studies spatial organization, movement, and signaling within cells. Ron, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, was honored with the 2012 Lasker Award for his research.

 

Rosa Veguilla

Rosa is the Associate Director of Research Talks at iBiology. She earned her BS in Chemistry at University of Puerto Rico – Río Piedras, and her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University. Before joining iBiology, she was a Preceptor for Life Sciences 1A at Harvard College and an Adjunct Faculty Professor at Harvard Extension School.

At iBiology she is responsible for leading the research video production pipelines including identifying seminar topics, overseeing video editing, and writing associated web content and educational materials.