EngagePerspectivesBiology & Public Interest: A Fireside Chat
Citizenship Icon Dialogue Icon Service Icon

Biology & Public Interest: A Fireside Chat

The PIT@Penn student group recently held a fireside chat with Dr. Kayla Davis and Dr. George Demiris, who are both work in the intersection between public interest tech and biology.  Dr. Davis has been heavily involved in STEM outreach and science policy, while much of Dr. Demiris’ work focuses on research to use tech solutions to address aging related issues.

In their talk, both Dr. Davis and Dr. Demiris spoke on the challenges that they both face doing their work due to its public interest nature.  Dr. Davis mentioned how many people discouraged her from doing science policy or outreach work due to it potentially harming her long-term career goals.  Similarly, Dr. Demiris described the difficulty of publishing very unique, community-centric research due to the difficulty of obtaining funding and getting published.

Despite these challenges, both panelists encouraged the attendees to pursue their interests in public interest related work.  On the research end of things, Dr. Demiris spoke on keeping perspective on the importance of the work he does.  Often, the funding and awards that research gets doesn’t always align with its community impact, so it’s always important to focus on the research’s overall impact and benefit to society.

In terms of major issues impacting their work in public interest, Dr. Davis emphasized including diverse voices in research, as it’s important to think about how research and their results might impact groups disparately.  This also extends to age, as Dr. Davis is frequently much younger than all other people in her meetings; she wants to encourage young scientists to enter the science policy space and shape the discussion.  Communicating with the public is a significant issue that Dr. Demiris described, as people need to be aware of the risks and benefits of different technologies, as well as have their privacy preserved.

Panelists:
  • Kayla Davis is an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow working at the Department of Energy in the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Research Integrity in the Office of Science. She is a cell biologist who is passionate about STEM education, developing and supporting a diverse STEM workforce, and equitable access to STEM education and healthcare. She is a citizen of Osage Nation and a recent graduate of Harvard University where she received her Ph.D. in Biological and Biomedical Sciences. Kayla recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship in neurology at Harvard Medical School where she also served as a Teaching Fellow and Instructor for Harvard Medical School’s Social Issues in Biology course. Kayla is the founder of a STEM education non-profit, CodeSciLab, which has a mission of improving access to science education by providing free and low barrier-to-entry computational science programming.
  • George Demiris is a PIK University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and holds joint faculty appointments in the Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences of the School of Nursing and the Informatics Division of the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine. He explores innovative ways to utilize technology and support older adults and their families in various settings, including home and hospice care. He also focuses on designing and evaluating personal health systems that produce patient-generated data including “smart home” solutions for aging. He is a Member of the National Academy of Medicine, a Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics, the Gerontological Society of America and the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics. He is the Editor-In-Chief of Informatics for Health and Social Care and a Senior Fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics.

Keep Reading

The Alliance for Understanding Cohort in Selma
Blog

How Studying History Can Inform Understanding of Complex Contemporary Social Issues and Allow for Effective Dialogue

The Alliance for Understanding consists of a diverse group of students from Penn as well as staff from The Greenfield Intercultural Center, The African American Resource Center, and Penn Hillel. The cohort spends six weeks discussing the Civil Rights Movement and then takes a trip to the South to better understand American history for the sake of creating social change. The program provides opportunities to visit historical sites and museums and also talk to people who have invaluable knowledge from their experiences studying or living through the Civil Rights Era. The program has a special focus on how the African American and Jewish communities experienced the Civil Rights Era, providing opportunities for students to explore solidarity across racial lines for the cause of justice.Learn More
two people eating together
Podcast

Unlikely Friendships: Connections within the College House System

Excerpts from Edited Transcript Dr. Lia Howard: Welcome, Maddie and Fawad. Would you introduce yourselves? Who are you? Can you give us… Learn More
Event Recap

TikTok Boom - Reflections on Penn Screening

The film screening and meet-the-Director event reached about 50 thoughtful and energized participants. In addition to the screening of the… Learn More