El Faro Editors Daniela Franco, M.A. Rubi Gonzales, Ph.D - National Hispanic Science Network
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El Faro Editors Daniela Franco, M.A. University of Maryland School of Medicine Rubi Gonzales, Ph.D. Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
EL FARO: National Hispanic
Science Network
Hello What’s in
This Issue?
Inspiring Hispanic/Latinx
Scientists in America
Welcome to the Summer Adapted from Cell Mentor’s list of 100 inspiring
2021 edition of El Faro: Hispanic/Latinx scientists and inspiring
scientists from the National Latina/o
La Voz de la Red. Psychological Association (NLPA)
The purpose of this newsletter is Early Career Investigator
to keep you up to date with Column: Dr. Hugo Tejeda
current topics and research Chief of Unit on Neuromodulation and
amongst members of the National Synaptic Integration at NIMH-IRP
Hispanic Science Network (NHSN)
NHSN 21st Annual
and the Early Career Leadership Virtual Conference
Committee (ECLC). In this edition Looking Back to Look Ahead
we feature stories from NHSN September 22-24: Registration is Free
members as they share insight on
leadership and resilience while Social Media Piece
navigating academia. By Cho Hee Shrader, Ph.D.
Fighting Misinformation in Social
Furthermore, we look back on Media in the age of COVID-19
NHSN conference highlights while
celebrating the accomplishments NHSN Member
of our community. Accomplishments
Highlighting the accolades
in our community
Inspiring Hispanic/Latinx
Scientists in America
Scientist biographies were obtained from their respective university websites
Ulises Ricoy, Ph.D.
Associate Scientist and Faculty Director, University of Arizona
‘Explore low-cost and hands-on approaches (using invertebrates) in neuroscience
to explore behavioral and physiological questions (learning and memory,
locomotor activity, drug-seeking, drug reward) with undergraduates. Broadening
access in Neuroscience to historical underserved populations via low cost
approaches has been the vision of my past and current interests’
Carmela Alcántara, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Columbia University
‘Her research examines the ecological relationship between sleep, self-
regulation, and health behaviors in Latina/o adults, and she is director of the Sleep,
Mind, and Health Research Program at the Columbia School of Social Work’
Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, Ph.D.
Full Professor, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
‘She is the Co-Director of the IC-RACE Lab (Immigration Critical Race And Cultural
Equity Lab). Her research focuses on colorism, skin-color differences, parenting
styles, immigration, unaccompanied minors, multiculturalism, and race relations’
Hector Y. Adames, Ph.D.
Associate Department Chair, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
‘His research focuses on how socio-race, skin-color, colorism, and ethnic and
racial group membership influence wellness. Specialty areas of research include
healthy and diseased memory, implicit cognition/bias, Latino/a Psychology, &
multiculturalism’
Joe L. Martinez, Jr., Ph.D. (1944-2020)
University of California, Berkeley (1982-1995), Psychology Department Chair,
University of Illinois at Chicago
‘A passionate advocate for the advancement of underrepresented minorities in
STEM, Martinez cofounded the Summer Program in Neuroscience, Ethics and
Survival, a month-long course supported by the National Institutes of Health at the
Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. For over 20 years he
co-directed the American Psychological Association’s Diversity Program in
Neuroscience, which supports the training of diverse doctoral and postdoctoral
neuroscience students.’
Yarimar Carrasquillo, Ph.D.
Lead Investigator, Pain and Integrative Neuroscience Branch, National Center for
Complementary and Integrative Health
‘She leads the Behavioral Neurocircuitry and Cellular Plasticity Section in the
NCCIH Intramural Division. The main goal of the lab is to identify anatomical,
molecular, and cellular mechanisms that underlie pathological pain states’
Early Career Investigator Column
Hugo Tejeda, Ph.D.
Chief of Unit on Neuromodulation and
Synaptic Integration at NIMH-IRP
What factors have shaped your career path and helped you
become the researcher you are today?
For me, my career path has been shaped by the mentors I have had at each stage of my
career. I always had great mentors that believed in me and allowed me to pursue my
personal research interests in their labs. In doing so, all my mentors allowed me to
pursue projects in their labs that were outside their immediate comfort zone and
develop independence. The first instance of this was in Dr. Laura O’Dell’s laboratory at the
University of Texas at El Paso as an undergraduate student where I studied the role of kappa-
opioid receptors in mediating nicotine withdrawal. Dr. O’Dell, an expert on nicotine
addiction, was supportive of my new-found fascination with kappa-opioid receptors and
allowed me to take the initiative to design a study, carry out and interpret the experiments,
and write the manuscript. Her kindness and support forever changed my research path
and provided a strong foundation for independence that I would later cultivate as a
graduate student and post-doctoral fellow. It also strengthened my research interest in
endogenous opioid receptor systems, which has been a focus of my research at each stage
in career and is a cornerstone of the research we do in our laboratory at NIMH.
Where do you see the field in addiction heading in 10, 20
years? What do you hope to accomplish in the next 5 years?
Neuroscience as whole has seen tremendous advancements thanks, in part, to the
explosion of tools available to monitor and manipulate brain circuits and molecularly-
defined cell types and computational approaches to digest large data sets. As newer tools
are developed and we learn more about neuronal circuits and computations essential for
emotions and motivated behavior, this will also open up opportunities to understand what
is occurring in the brain of animals that are “addicted” and humans with addictive (cont.)
behaviors. Many recent technological advancements also open the possibility for
translational research as they provide identical endpoints that can be assessed in both
animal models and humans. For instance, single-cell RNA sequencing of brain tissue can be
conducted in humans with addictions and in animal models of addiction-like behaviors,
giving a more “apples-to-apples” comparison between clinical and pre-clinical research.
Advancements in computational neuroscience will also drive advancements in addiction.
For example, it is clear that drug-seeking behavior is complex and driven by a plethora of
factors that differ from person-to-person. Gaining deeper understanding of behaviors and
decisions involved with addiction through a combination of real world monitoring of
behavior and physiological responses (i.e., via data obtained from a person’s phone) in
combination with in-depth computational analyses may allow us to predict who may become
addicted, when a person is seeking or taking drugs, and/or predict when someone is going
to relapse. This may provide a window for healthcare providers and/or family to
intervene to curb and treat alcohol and drug addiction.
In our laboratory, our research is aimed at elucidating the principles by which
neuropeptides and their cognate receptors, including opioid peptides and receptors,
regulate information processing from the cellular level to the level of interconnected circuits
that control emotions and motivation. To this end, our laboratory employs an
interdisciplinary approach utilizing a combination of electrophysiology and in-vivo
imaging approaches coupled with anatomical, optogenetic, genetic/viral, and
behavioral approaches. We are continuously adapting our approaches as technology
develops to more thoroughly address our research questions; from working with
genetically-encoded fluorescent sensors that provide an index of opioid system activity to
using genetic approaches to pharmacologically block opioid receptor signaling in
molecularly-defined cell types, as examples.
As such, we are presently collaborating
with clinical investigators at NIH to
determine whether dysregulation of the
dynorphin/kappa-opioid receptor system
contributes to mal-adaptive emotional and
addictive behavior in patients with severe
trauma.
How can mentors provide more research experiences and
opportunities to young scientists?
Mentors can direct students to research workshops, courses, and related experiences
so that students can gain knowledge or acquire technical skills outside what is currently
done in their laboratory or to strengthen existing approaches. At the very least, mentors
should direct students to resources where such opportunities are available, such as
institutional training and education offices. Accordingly, the NIH intramural research
program is an excellent place for students to get additional experiences and opportunities.
These come
These come in the form of post-bac fellowships, graduate research experiences through
the NIH Graduate Partnership Program, Medical Research Training, or post-doctoral
training fellowships, to name a few. Mentors should also encourage (if not
require) students to submit fellowships
or grants. Most fellowships and grants for
trainees require them to develop research
and professional development plans,
including networking opportunities,
professional development workshops, and/or analytical or technological workshops.
Moreover, most fellowships and grants that trainees are eligible for are associated with
opportunities to enhance scientific and professional development. Thus, submitting a
grant or fellowship automatically forces individuals to identify research experiences and
training opportunities. Mentors should also be proactive about expanding a trainee’s
network, including introducing the trainee to other people that can serve as official or
unofficial co-mentors. Networking provides opportunities for future jobs and training
opportunities.
What advice would you give to graduate students and
young investigators?
Identify quality mentors that will support you through good and bad times. These
can include people beyond your graduate school or post-doctoral fellowship. You may
need to find “niche” mentors that support you in specific areas. For big decisions or
career/life events, seek the advice of multiple mentors. Follow advice when there is
clear consensus and agreement between mentors. In cases where conflicting viewpoints
are offered by different mentors, use all the inputs to help shape “your” own decisions,
by making executive decisions of the advice you do and don’t follow.
Find your passion within science. If you have found that your science is one of your
passions, my congratulations to you! You found a way to get paid for doing your hobby! If
you are not passionate about what you are doing, try to find out why. Are you burned out?
Is the research question not interesting you? Is your laboratory environment toxic or
unsupportive? Identify the factors that may be hindering your passion for science. Be
open with your mentors and colleagues and get support to improve the situation. If you
do the soul-searching and still find that you are not passionate, that is okay. This tells you
that other areas of academic science or outside of science as a whole may lead to a more
fulfilling career.
Embrace failure. Not every experiment works. Not every grant gets funded. That’s okay.
Turn those into opportunities to learn about what doesn’t work. Give yourself time to
digest your hardships but don’t dwell. There is always another study and/or experiment
for you to embark on and succeed. There are always more grants or fellowships to submit.
You are running a marathon. The important thing is to finish it. Nobody cares what place
you finish in. Don’t burn yourself out or quit if you feel frustrated at 400 m.
Shake the impostor syndrome. Most scientists have impostor syndrome. We discourage
ourselves more than anyone. Humility and a taste of self-skepticism in your work is
essential for growth, rigor, and improving your productivity. From the reinforcement
perspective, impostor syndrome can be thought of as a negative reinforcer that forces
you to be careful and more thorough/rigorous in your work. That is, you work harder and
more carefully to produce a quality product that makes you feel proud and dampens
impostor syndrome worries in your life. In some cases, impostor syndrome can also act
as a punisher that decreases proactive and adaptive behaviors essential for improving
your professional and personal life. Most of us have impostor syndrome and we can’t help
it. What we can help is whether we use it make us better (we treat it as a negative
reinforcer) or to drive us down (we let it be a punisher).
“We discourage
ourselves more than
anyone…most of us have
imposter syndrome and
we can’t help it”
“What we can help is whether
we use it make us better (we
treat it as a negative reinforcer)
or to drive us down (we let it be
a punisher)”The Age of Misinformation
No news isn’t good news True news is good news
By Dr. Cho Hee Shrader
According to a recent Pew Research study, over 70% of American adults receive at least some news
from their social media platforms. That’s right- as a whole, we turn to social media platforms like
Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat to stay current on news, science, and information. Over 57% of
Americans have concerns about the accuracy of the information they receive and believe it to be
largely inaccurate…. yet they continue to seek information from these social media platforms. When
asked why they preferred to seek information from social media, Americans largely responded that they
like the convenience, as social media platforms are easier to use than traditional news outlets for digesting
information. It’s so important to stay informed. However, as social media is clogged with fake news, it’s
more important now than ever to be web literate, especially when fact checking social media content.
In the traumatic wake of COVID, it is even more important to make sure that we, as scientists,
double check any post before trusting that information, and then check it once again before
casually reposting it to our platforms. Social media platforms do not always fact-check informational
posts and articles. Social media is becoming increasingly popular and more important day by day for
most. As 70% of Facebook users get their news from the source, it’s as important as ever to ensure that
what we’re consuming is true. Despite the ethical challenges of socially responsible science, it is our
duty to our community to ensure that we uphold the highest standard of ethical information sharing:
NHSN members’ 280-character Tweets harness the power of truth and are necessary for research
rigor and communication.
Combating COVID Vaccine misinformation in Hispanic/Latinx Communities
According to the CDC, Hispanic/Latinx individuals are 2x as likely as white adults to contract the
virus and 2.3x more likely to die from it. One of the main reasons for inequities in vaccination rates
by race and ethnicity is the significant misinformation about vaccines and lack of health
education. Confronting misinformation head-on can increase vaccine rates and save lives. Here are
five ways to do that:
(1) Meet people where they are
(2) Use trusted messengers
(3) Hold social media companies
responsible for misinformation
(4) Choose words carefully (avoid jargon)
(5) Pay attention to health literacy
a. Health literacy can come in the form
of art, dance, music, etc. Information adapted from: Dr. Jay Bhatt, Internal Medicine physician, Instructor at the University of Illinois School of
Public Health, and ABC News contributor; Dr. Asha Shajahan, graduate medical education director of health equity and
disparities at Beaumont HealthNHSN 21ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE
VIRTUAL
September 22-24, 2021
Looking Back to Look Ahead: Rediscovering and Expanding the Foundations of Substance
Use Research with Diverse Populations as we Enter a Post-Pandemic World
REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
There is no fee for Virtual Conference
Please welcome 2021 NHSN Conference Scientific Co-ChairsThe Enhanced Interdisciplinary
Research Training Institute
The Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research Training Institute (eIRTI) promotes the career
development of pre-doctoral, post-doctoral and early career scientists interested in conducting
research on substance abuse as it affects Hispanics. The eIRTI builds upon nine years of
successful development and implementation of the research education program, IRTI. While
substance abuse in the United States continues to have a disproportionate impact on ethnic
minorities, particularly Hispanics, the number of researchers studying the problem remains
relatively small. Moreover, few training and research centers exist that focus on current drug
abuse issues among Hispanic populations.
Four Main Goals:
This comprehensive and coordinated effort has focused on providing research experience and
increasing the skills required for the preparation and submission of research applications for NIH
extramural funding. The institute provides three core activities to research fellows: training, tri-
mentoring, and networking. Visit our website our website to learn more.
Save the Date: 2022 eIRTI Summer Training June 6-11, 2022
Contact Information
Avelardo Valdez, PhD
Professor & Director
USC School of Social Work
University of Southern California
avelardv@usc.edu
Erika Smith, MBA, MPH
Project Manager
USC School of Social Work
University of Southern California
erikague@usc.eduNHSN Member Accomplishments
Highlighting the Accolades of Our Community
Rubi Gonzales, Ph.D. Successfully defended her dissertation “A critical analysis of Mexican Americans
associated with gangs living in San Antonio, TX” & is now currently at Washington
NHSN El Faro Editor
University in St. Louis School of Medicine as a T32 postdoctoral fellow
Arturo R. Zavala, Ph.D. Promoted to Full Professor at California State University, Long Beach
Suzan Walters, Ph.D. Awarded a K01 from NIDA to study intersectional stigma experiences, pre-
exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and other service use among people who inject drugs
Manuel Ocasio, Ph.D. Awarded a K01 from NIMHD to study diffusing persuasive HIV testing messages:
engaging Black sexual and gender minority youth and social media influencers
Elma Lorenzo-Blanco, Ph.D. Awarded a K01 from NIMHD to study JUNTOS (TOGETHER): Development of a
family-based Latino youth alcohol use preventive intervention
Publications
Shaw, AG, Chae, S, Levitt, DE, Nicholson, JL, Vingren, JL, and Hill, DW. (2021). Effect of previous-day
alcohol ingestion on muscle function and performance of severe-intensity exercise. International Journal
of Sports Physiology and Performance. Ahead-of-print. PMID: 34225252. DOI: 10.1123/ijspp.2020-0790
Levitt, DE, Molina, PE, and Simon, L. (2021). Pathophysiological mechanisms of alcoholic myopathy:
Lessons from rodent models. Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences. 52(2): 107-116. DOI:
10.51966/jvas.2021.52.2.107-116.
Primeaux, SD, Simon, L, Ferguson, TF, Levitt, DE, Brashear, MM, Yeh, A, and Molina PE. (2021).
Alcohol use and dysglycemia among people living with HIV in the ALIVE-Ex Study. Alcoholism: Clinical
and Experimental Research. Ahead-of-print. PMID: 34342022. DOI: 10.1111/acer.14667.
Pesavento, P. A., Iñiguez, S. D., Grinevich, V., & Trainor, B. C. (2020). Extrahypothalamic oxytocin
neurons drive stress-induced social vigilance and avoidance. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences of the United States of America, 117(42), 26406–26413. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2011890117
Serafine, K. M., O'Dell, L. E., & Zorrilla, E. P. (2021). Converging vulnerability factors for compulsive
food and drug use. Neuropharmacology, 196, 108556.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2021.108556
O'Dell, L. E., Koob, G. F., & Nazarian, A. (2021). Vulnerability to substance abuse: A consideration of
allostatic loading factors. Neuropharmacology, 108767. Advance online publication.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2021.108767Rudebeck, P. H., & Izquierdo, A. (2021). Foraging with the frontal cortex: A cross-species evaluation of reward-guided behavior. Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 10.1038/s41386-021-01140-0. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-021-01140-0 Miles, J., Acevedo, A., Panas, L., Ritter, G., Campbell, K., & Delk, M. (2020). Race/Ethnicity, Community of Residence, and DUI Arrest After Beginning Treatment for an Alcohol Use Disorder. The journal of behavioral health services & research, 47(2), 201–215. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-019-09672-6 Amaro, H., & Black, D. S. (2021). Mindfulness-Based Intervention Effects on Substance Use and Relapse Among Women in Residential Treatment: A Randomized Controlled Trial With 8.5-Month Follow-Up Period From the Moment-by-Moment in Women's Recovery Project. Psychosomatic medicine, 83(6), 528– 538. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000000907 Amaro, H., Sanchez, M., Bautista, T., & Cox, R. (2021). Social vulnerabilities for substance use: Stressors, socially toxic environments, and discrimination and racism. Neuropharmacology, 188, 108518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2021.108518 Cano, M. Á., Schwartz, S. J., MacKinnon, D. P., Keum, B., Prado, G., Marsiglia, F. F., Salas-Wright, C. P., Cobb, C. L., Garcini, L. M., De La Rosa, M., Sánchez, M., Rahman, A., Acosta, L. M., Roncancio, A. M., & de Dios, M. A. (2021). Exposure to ethnic discrimination in social media and symptoms of anxiety and depression among Hispanic emerging adults: Examining the moderating role of gender. Journal of clinical psychology, 77(3), 571–586. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23050 Tejeda, H. A., Wang, H., Flores, R. J., & Yarur, H. E. (2021). Dynorphin/Kappa-Opioid Receptor System Modulation of Cortical Circuitry. Handbook of experimental pharmacology, 10.1007/164_2021_440. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/164_2021_440 Pignatelli, M., Tejeda, H. A., Barker, D. J., Bontempi, L., Wu, J., Lopez, A., Palma Ribeiro, S., Lucantonio, F., Parise, E. M., Torres-Berrio, A., Alvarez-Bagnarol, Y., Marino, R., Cai, Z. L., Xue, M., Morales, M., Tamminga, C. A., Nestler, E. J., & Bonci, A. (2021). Cooperative synaptic and intrinsic plasticity in a disynaptic limbic circuit drive stress-induced anhedonia and passive coping in mice. Molecular psychiatry, 26(6), 1860–1879. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-020-0686-8 Miranda-Barrientos, J., Chambers, I., Mongia, S., Liu, B., Wang, H. L., Mateo-Semidey, G. E., Margolis, E. B., Zhang, S., & Morales, M. (2021). Ventral tegmental area GABA, glutamate, and glutamate-GABA neurons are heterogeneous in their electrophysiological and pharmacological properties. The European journal of neuroscience, 10.1111/ejn.15156. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15156 Natividad, L. A., Steinman, M. Q., McGinn, M. A., Sureshchandra, S., Kerr, T. M., Ciccocioppo, R., Messaoudi, I., Edwards, S., & Roberto, M. (2021). Impaired hypothalamic feedback dysregulates brain glucocorticoid signaling in genetically-selected Marchigian Sardinian alcohol-preferring rats. Addiction biology, 26(3), e12978. https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.12978 Flores, R. J., Alshbool, F. Z., Giner, P., O'Dell, L. E., & Mendez, I. A. (2021). Exposure to nicotine vapor produced by an electronic nicotine delivery system causes short-term increases in impulsive choice in adult male rats. Nicotine & tobacco research: official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, ntab141. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntab141 Cobb, C. L., Salas-Wright, C. P., John, R., Schwartz, S. J., Vaughn, M., Martínez, C. R., Jr, Awad, G., Pinedo, M., & Cano, M. Á. (2021). Discrimination Trends and Mental Health Among Native- and Foreign-Born Latinos: Results from National Surveys in 2004 and 2013. Prevention science: the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research, 22(3), 397–407.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-020-01186-4
Zemore, S. E., Gilbert, P. A., Pinedo, M., Tsutsumi, S., McGeough, B., & Dickerson, D. L. (2021). Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Mutual Help Group Participation for Substance Use Problems. Alcohol research : current reviews, 41(1), 03. https://doi.org/10.35946/arcr.v41.1.03 Bates, M., & Trujillo, K. A. (2021). Use and abuse of dissociative and psychedelic drugs in adolescence. Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior, 203, 173129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbb.2021.173129 Vaca, F. E., Dziura, J., Abujarad, F., Pantalon, M. V., Hsiao, A., Field, C. A., & D'Onofrio, G. (2020). Trial study design to test a bilingual digital health tool for alcohol use disorders among Latino emergency department patients. Contemporary clinical trials, 97, 106128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cct.2020.106128 Herrera, M., Molina, P., & Souza-Smith, F. M. (2021). Ethanol-induced lymphatic endothelial cell permeability via MAP-kinase regulation. American journal of physiology. Cell physiology, 321(1), C104– C116. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpcell.00039.2021 Stielper, Z. F., Fucich, E. A., Middleton, J. W., Hillard, C. J., Edwards, S., Molina, P. E., & Gilpin, N. W. (2021). Traumatic Brain Injury and Alcohol Drinking Alter Basolateral Amygdala Endocannabinoids in Female Rats. Journal of neurotrauma, 38(4), 422–434. https://doi.org/10.1089/neu.2020.7175
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