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Watch videos about academic life

Improving Academic Mental Health Panel: Resources and Initiatives

September 29, 2021

The academic community is facing mental health challenges at an increasingly high level. This impacts many vulnerable populations, including women in STEM. On May 29th, 2020, the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) Bethesda Chapter organized a virtual panel of individuals from different career stages who are working to improve academic mental health.

Panellists were: Dr Nathan Vanderford, Assistant Professor of Toxicology and Cancer Biology, University of Kentucky; Dr Zoe Ayres, Mental health advocate, and research scientist, United Kingdom; and Dr Adriana Bankston, Mental health advocate and researcher, Dragonfly Mental Health. The panel was moderated by Dr Minal Mehta, a research scientist at AstraZeneca. The panelists highlighted unique perspectives and projects on this topic and discussed how stakeholders can come together to improve mental health in academia in order to create a more supportive, diverse and inclusive enterprise.

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Titleslide for the talk on Imposter Syndrome

About Imposter Syndrome

September 20, 2021

Imposter syndrome, or the feeling that you don’t truly belong, is very common among academics. In this talk, Olga Vvdenskaya, MD, PhD covers the definition of impostor syndrome and its prevalence in the academic population. She gives an overview of symptoms highlighting those seen in academic settings, and some tips on how to overcome impostor syndrome in your life.

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title slide of the video: breaking the stigma ; mental health as an academic

Breaking The Stigma: Cultivating Mental Health as an Academic

September 20, 2021

Breaking The Stigma – A film by Dragonfly Mental Health features interviews with Professors and a Nobel Laureate from the Life Sciences speaking about their own lived experience with mental health struggles. Through real stories of successful and prominent faculty at the University of California Berkeley and Davis, we are breaking the stigma and busting the myth that mental health struggles preclude one from an academic career.

Starring: Prof. Richard Harland, Prof. Elva Diaz, Dr Elçin Ünal, Randy W. Schekman, PhD and Prof. Kathy Collins.
Editing: David Ingram

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titleslide of the 3. BioBattalion webinar.

BioBattalion Webinar Series Chapter 3 – Dr. Thais Langer

September 5, 2021

Dr. Thais Langer, the founder of Science Writer Space, delivered an exciting talk titled: ‘How to navigate a scientific career path’. During her talk, she discussed her life and career in science. She also realistically talks about the difficult times, she had to endure to make her passion come true.

Throughout her talk, she loudly and clearly made the point that life is not always linear and that every step in it comes with an opportunity to learn something new. This was also her motivation to always look up when things go awry. Last but not least, she highlighted the significance of realising a proper work-life balance (she herself is a scientist, science communicator and writer, and a professional diver and sailor) and the real need for proper scientific knowledge dissemination.

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