from the University of California, San Francisco, with a Ph.D. in the field of human reproductive genetics in 2002.

Dr. Moore has received many academic accolades, including fellowships from the National Science Foundation and the Ford Foundation, but he is most proud of the Martin Luther King Jr. award, received for his humanitarian and community service work from UC San Francisco. Currently, Dr. Moore is cofounder and principal of PotentSci LLC, which is a book publishing and science educational consulting company.  In February of 2006, he co-edited and published a book titled, Finding Your North: Self-Help Strategies for Science-Related Careers (FYN). The goal of FYN is to help students discover their purpose in life, while utilizing science and medicine as a platform for the discussion.  He is extremely grateful for his blessings, and is committed to expanding outreach to people who are disadvantaged and/or want to achieve at their highest level.
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Alissa Myrick, PhD is currently a postdoctoral scholar in the Division of Infectious Diseases at UCSF. Working at the interface of public health and molecular biology, she is utilizing molecular and field-based approaches to study the mechanisms of drug resistance in malaria.

Dr. Myrick obtained her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health in the summer of 2003. The major component of her thesis project was the characterization of the Plasmodium falciparum multidrug resistance gene at the transcriptional level. During her dissertation, Myrick was given the opportunity to conduct molecular biology training and field research in Dakar, Senegal. She was elected to serve on the Harvard Graduate Council as well as the Student Coordinating Committee at the School of Public Health. She also served as co-chair of the Minority Biomedical Scientists at Harvard; and was actively involved in efforts to increase diversity in the sciences.

Dr. Myrick obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from U.C. Berkeley in 1996. Dr. Myrick’s experience at Berkeley was enriched by her membership in the Biology Scholars Program, where she became a member of the Student Advisory Committee. Her work with BSP set a foundation for her commitment to the idea of excellence through diversity. She was an HIV/AIDS Peer Educator and received a grant to study HIV in Lusaka, Zambia with Dr. Susan Allen. This experience led to Myrick’s interest in interdisciplinary research combining public health and molecular biology.
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Tanya Moore, PhD a native of Berkeley, CA, received her doctorate training in the field of Biostatistics at the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to attending UC Berkeley, Dr. Moore obtained a BS degree in Mathematics from Spelman College and a Masters in Science and Engineering from the Mathematical Sciences Department at The Johns Hopkins University. After completing a postdoctoral HIV/AIDS research training program in the Department of Biostatistics at the University of California, Los Angeles she returned to her hometown to address the issue of health inequities.

Currently, Dr. Moore works for the City of Berkeley Public Health Department and is the lead of the Chronic Disease Prevention Program. Her efforts are focused primarily on reducing the rates of high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and diabetes in the African-American community in South and West Berkeley.

Tanya is also creator and co-chair of the Infinite Possibilities Conference, a conference designed to support, empower and promote underrepresented minority women mathematicians. The conference has been held on the campus Spelman College (2005) and North Carolina State University (2007). Dr. Moore is also one of the authors of Finding Your North: Self-Help Strategies for Science Related Careers.
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John Matsui, PhD is a product of the California Community College and University of California systems where he received training is in evolutionary biology and science education. His professional career reflects a strong personal commitment to helping people realize their fullest potential in school and in life. A theme in his work as a teacher, advisor, program developer, and administrator has been to make information and institutions more accessible to all individuals, with special emphasis on those from economic, social, cultural, gender, and ethnic groups that historically have not participated in higher education and specifically in math based disciplines.

Dr. Matsui has taught a range of subjects to high school, community college, undergraduate and graduate students, including general biology, non-majors biology, teaching to diversity in biology, and, most recently, a course (Studying the Biological Sciences - an introduction to the culture of the University and of University science) for UC Berkeley freshmen intending to major in biology and for current community college students intending to transfer to Berkeley in biology.

As director of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute funded Biology Scholars Program, Matsui works with about 450 UCB students all of whom have an interest in biology. He teaches, advises, and conducts research on factors that affect success of students in science majors at Berkeley.
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Cory Nicholas , graduated with a BA degree in Molecular and Cellbiology (emphasis – Neurobiology) from UC Berkeley in 2000. After undergraduate school, Cory spent three years working as a research associate on Cancer Biology and Angiogenesis at a biotechnology company in South San Francisco called SUGEN, Inc. Subsequently, hewas admitted to the Biomedical Sciences graduate program at UCSF where Cory has been working on his PhD thesis research project forthe past five years in Dr. Renee Reijo Pera’s lab (now at Stanford). He studies Stem Cell and Developmental Biology and, specifically, has been investigating germ cell (egg and sperm) development from human and mouse embryonic stem cells. Cory also serves on the board of directors for BDIS and is a cofounder of the Cellthera research initiative and UCSF CNS (cell-based neuraltherapy and stroke) consortium investigating the use of embryonic stem cells to treat disabled stroke
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Michael Penn Jr., M.D., PhD, is committed to diversifying the ethnic landscape of science and medicine. Born and raised in San Francisco, Dr. Penn attended Lowell High School, San Francisco’s premier college-preparatory public high school. Although he had multiple colleges and universities from which to choose, Dr. Penn ultimately chose to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta, believing the unique experience available at an all-male, historically black college would greatly enhance his academic experience. It did. Graduating Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in biology, Dr. Penn then entered UCSF’s combined M.D.-Ph.D program, where he completed his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences in August of 2000. His graduate work sought to understand why different strains of HIV were more destructive to the immune system than others. His work has shifted paradigms of thought regarding HIV infection and contributed to the development of novel therapies. He recently completed in M.D. degree in May of 2003. Currently, Dr. Penn is a Product Manager in Marketing at Genentech.

Dr. Penn has devoted much time to mentor and advise students during his career. Spending time with students is his passion. In 2001, he co-founded Building Diversity in Science (BDIS) with his UCSF colleague Dr. Frederick Moore. The mission of BDIS is to utilize science as a platform to empower underrepresented minority students. Their Scholars Program teaches students to critically evaluate the scientific literature and exposes them to the myriad of career opportunities available to individuals with a scientific background. Dr. Penn has also assisted with UCSF’s Summer Research Program for six consecutive summers where he motivated and counseled science undergraduates in laboratory research. Assisting numerous students with preparation for graduate and professional school, Dr. Penn has been gratified to see many of his students matriculate at UCSF and other premier institutions around the country. To quote Dr. David Irby, Dean of Medical Education at UCSF, “Michael Penn’s contributions to recruitment, admission and mentoring of under-represented college, medical, graduate and dental students during these past seven years has been enormous – I know of no other medical student who has done so much for students and for the campus at large.” Dr. Penn is well respected by students, faculty and the administration for his hard work and the impact he has had on the campus community. In fact, UCSF recognized his contributions by awarding him the Chancellor’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. award in 2001, an honor he shared with BDIS co-founder Dr. Frederick Moore.

In 2002, Dr. Penn was appointed to the San Francisco Health Commission by former Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr. This seven-member commission is the governing and policy-making body of the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Dr. Penn works diligently in this capacity to preserve, promote and protect the health of all San Francisco residents.

Dr. Penn feels blessed to have the best of all worlds through his employment at Genentech, Inc., his tenure on the SF Health Commission, and community service through BDIS.
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John Watson, PhD, a professor emeritus of biochemistry at UC San Francisco, has spent the last 32 years of his life transforming and improving the University environment by advocating for the inclusion of more minority students. When he initially joined the faculty at UCSF in 1969, only 8-12 underrepresented minority students had graduated from the School of Medicine. But when Watson became the associate dean of admissions, a position he held from 1973-1980, the student body changed remarkably. Since 1969, there have been approximately 800 graduating minority students. About 60 percent of this increase occurred during Watson's tenure, in part due to the new admissions criteria he helped to develop for accepting students to UCSF. Dr. Watson is an accomplished basic scientist, who was one of the first African Americans promoted to full professorship at UCSF, in 1985.
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Emmitt Jolly, PhD is postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Pathology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) studying drug regulation and identification of mechanisms for whole genome regulation in African sleeping sickness. He has been involved in issues concerning minorities and education since he was in high school, where he began giving motivational speeches and talks to junior high students in poor and at risk schools. He continued in this tradition as a Tuskegee University college student, and as a student at the University of California, San Francisco, speaking on many occasions to junior high, high school, and undergraduates. He is known for his ability to connect to large and diverse crowds of people. Because of this quality, he was requested to speak for numerous groups including the American Association of Anatomists, where San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and former Surgeon General David Satcher were also scheduled to speak, to address Vise President Al Gore on federal funding for graduate education, and to represent the UCSF student body for the inauguration of UCSF’s new Chancellor and Nobel laureate Dr. J. Michael Bishop.

Jolly was a Ford Foundation Fellow and a UNCF/Merck Dissertation Fellow at UCSF and finished his Ph.D in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology studying gene expression and transcriptional regulation during meiosis. During this time he was very involved in campus and community activities. Jolly was founder and president of the Student Literature Redistribution Project, an organization focused of donating scientific journals to schools and universities in need. He served as president of the Black Student Health Alliance for two years and oversaw numerous health related and community related projects including Health Education Day in which students from local high schools were brought to UCSF to learn health careers in medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy and medical/ basic research. He also assisted with UCSF’s Summer Research Training Program, a program he participated in as an undergraduate. He served as the Student Representative to the UCSF Black Caucus for several years. His numerous endeavors led to him being honored with the Chancellors Dr. Martin Luther King Award in 1999. Emmitt Jolly is committed to increasing diversity in science and science related areas and BDIS is a new avenue to achieve these goals.
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Anouk Shambrook, PhD graduated with her B.S. degree in Physics in 1992 and M.S. degree in Astrophysics in 1994 from Columbia University. She later earned her Ph.D. in Astrophysics from University of California at Santa Cruz in 2001. She was chosen to be a NASA Graduate Student Research Fellow, a Presidential Dissertation Year Fellow at the University of California, an ARCS Fellow (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists), and a John Kluge Presidential Scholar. Her in-depth scientific research led to ten publications.

During her academic career, Anouk did extensive work reaching out to communities of color and women, encouraging them to pursue the sciences. Through the UCSC Cosmos Summer Program, she mentored minority high school students daily in Physics and Astronomy, emphasizing inquiry-based learning. She worked with a teacher at Watsonville Elementary School to teach Science to minority 5th graders on a monthly basis. Anouk used the platform of being on the Math and Science panel at the California Diversity Education Forum to reach out to many minority undergraduate students, emphasizing the value of attending graduate school and advising them on how best to apply. Over the years, she was able to make a difference in many people’s lives by making the extra effort to support the non-traditional student in courses she taught. Although Anouk loves conducting research about the evolution of galaxies of stars and teaching, she wanted to spend more time trying to help people with more immediate, practical issues such as finding affordable housing and jobs that pay a decent wage. After completing her Ph.D., she chose to work for a non-profit organization in Oakland that helps low-income communities, especially targeting communities of color. As a program specialist at the National Economic Development and Law Center, Anouk interviews people across the country to research economic trends in communities of color. She writes reports for foundation officers with the short term goal to influence their funding strategies to help more low-income communities and with the long term goal to influence national economic policies to incorporate more of the specific needs of communities of color. Anouk now shares her passion about physics and astronomy through volunteer work.
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