Division of Biology and Medicine
Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry
Dr. Samuel M. Nabrit Conference for Early Career Scholars
An inclusive event for molecular life scientists.
Dr. Samuel M. Nabrit Conference for Early Career Scholars
An inclusive event for molecular life scientists.
Seventh Annual Dr. Samuel M. Nabrit Conference for Early Career Scholars
June 5-6, 2025
Brown University
Providence, RI
The 2025 Dr. Samuel M. Nabrit Conference for Early Career Scholars (June 5-6) is open to all and will showcase the research achievements of outstanding molecular life scientists who have worked to advance the role of historically underrepresented groups in science and medicine. The conference is free and in person, hosted by the Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry Department at Brown University.
The conference program will open on the afternoon of June 5 and close Friday evening, June 6. It will feature short talks by invited early career scholars, panel events focusing on identity and professional development, and a poster session. The conference will be held in Sidney Frank Hall at Brown University.
Applications are still open for poster presentations! Poster presentation slots are available for conference attendees at any career stage. The application deadline is Friday May 23, 2025.
Conference Keynote Speakers
Keynote addresses presented by:
Dr. JoAnn Trejo, PhD (University of California San Diego)
"A Scientific Journey: Serendipity, Success and Cell Signaling"
Dr. Derek Applewhite, PhD (Reed College)
"Regulation of non-muscle myosin II contractility"
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JoAnn Trejo, PhD
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Derek Applewhite, PhD
This will be an inclusive event, drawing attendees from the Brown BioMed community (including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff and campus organizations) as well as registered participants from across the US. The conference has been named in honor of Dr. Samuel Milton Nabrit, Brown's first African-American PhD recipient and a marine biologist with a distinguished international career.
For questions about the 2025 Samuel M. Nabrit Conference for Early Career Scholars, please contact smnc@brown.edu.
About Dr. Samuel M. Nabrit
An accomplished marine biologist with a distinguished international career, Samuel Milton Nabrit was Brown University's first African-American Ph.D. recipient and first African-American trustee. After graduating from Morehouse College in 1925, he studied regeneration in fish tail fins in the doctoral program in biology at Brown and at the Marine Biological Laboratory. Dr. Nabrit began his teaching career at Morehouse College, where he was a professor of zoology and then chair of the biology department from 1932 to 1947. He served as president of the National Institute of Science in 1945. In 1947 he became a member of the Marine Biological Laboratory Corporation (he was only the second African-American scientist to do so) and moved to Atlanta University, where he served as dean of the graduate school of arts and sciences. Dr. Nabrit's scientific papers remained influential for many years and are still cited today in journals including Regeneration, Mechanisms of Development, and Developmental Cell.
Dr. Nabrit became the second president of Texas Southern University in 1955, serving in that role until 1966, publishing a number of important papers on the status and future of graduate and professional education for African Americans. Under U.S. Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson, Dr. Nabrit served in a number of national roles, including membership on the National Science board and on the Atomic Energy Commission, as well as a special ambassadorship. He was a founding member of the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine). In 1967 he became the executive director of the Southern Fellowship Fund, which supported African-American students pursuing doctoral degrees, a post he held until his retirement in 1981.
Dr. Nabrit's contributions and achievements have been recognized and remembered in several ways at Brown University. He was awarded an honorary Sc.D. degree in 1962, and received the William Rogers award, which recognizes Brown alumni for outstanding humanitarian contributions, in 1987. In 1999 a portrait of Dr. Nabrit was unveiled and added to the collection of portraits of important university leaders in Sayles Hall. Since 1985, Nabrit Fellowships have supported graduate students and, more recently, undergraduate researchers from historically underrepresented groups, and The Samuel M. Nabrit Black Graduate Student Association adopted his name in 2005.
Previous Conferences
2024 - Sixth Annual Conference
Dr. Sherilynn Black
Duke University
"Pursuing Systemic Change in the Academic Ecosystem”
Dr. Blanton S. Tolbert
University of Pennsylvania and Howard Hughes Medical Institute
“An Affinity for RNA Biology and Advancing Equity and Inclusion: A Look Back”
2023 - Fifth Annual Conference
Dr. Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado
Stowers Institute
"Dissecting the Biological Complexity of Animal Regeneration”
Dr. Cassandra Extavour
Harvard University
“A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Evolution of Reproduction”
2022 - Fourth Annual Conference
Dr. Alexis Stranahan
Augusta University
"Basic mechanisms and personal experience with the brain's response to stress”
Dr. Kristy Red-Horse
Stanford University
“Coronary artery development and regeneration”
2021 - Third Annual Conference
Held virtually over Zoom.
2020 - Second Annual Conference
Dr. Breann Brown
Vanderbilt University
"Control of protein function by assembly: implications for combating stress and disease”
Dr. Saul Villeda
University of California, San Francisco
“Molecular mechanisms of brain rejuvenation”
2019 - Inaugural Conference
Dr. Karine Gibbs
Harvard University
"Surface-surfing with a few million friends: how identity information incluences group behaviors of a bacterial opportunistic pathogen”
Dr. Enrique De La Cruz
Yale University
“How cells use chemistry and physics to break the bones that power their movement”