On behalf of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), you are invited to join us virtually on Wednesday, November 8, 2023, from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. ET for the third and final EDI Director’s Speaker Series event of the year.

This series features speakers who are truly making an impact, and our final speaker, Robyn Leigh Tanguay, Ph.D., is no exception. Next month you will have the chance to hear first-hand from Dr. Tanguay (born Robert Tanguay), who runs the world’s largest zebrafish toxicology facility, Tanguay Lab, out of Oregon State University (OSU).

Dr. Tanguay is an American researcher, academic, and educator. She is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, the Director of the Oregon State University Superfund Research Program, the Director of the Sinnhuber Aquatic Research Laboratory, and the Director of an Environmental Health Sciences Center.

At OSU, she leads the eponymous Tanguay Lab, where she applies systems toxicology principles using the zebrafish (Danio rerio) to discover chemicals in the environment that can interact with expressed genomes to produce diseases and other dysfunctions. She uses chemical structural information; coupled with the biological responses they produce in zebrafish, as anchors to screen for potentially hazardous chemicals and to discover new biology.

Dr. Tanguay's journey is not only about the latest findings in science; it is also about courage in sharing one’s whole self with the world. In December 2019, she bravely announced her transition, aligning her outward identity with her true self. This event will touch on Dr. Tanguay’s personal and professional journey, explore strategies for staying current on the latest advancements in biology, and illustrate the power of representing equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility across the sciences.

Event information

This live-streamed Zoom event will be presented with real-time captions and American Sign Language Interpreters. If you are an individual with a disability who needs reasonable accommodation to participate in this event, please contact Audra Nixon at 301-496-6301 or audra.nixon@nih.gov. Requests should be made at least five business days before the date of the event.

More about the EDI Speaker Series: With the purpose to foster greater diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, NIH and EDI aim to promote cultural awareness and provide learning opportunities for our community through this new series.

Do you have a story idea for us? Do you want to submit a guest blog? If it's about equity, diversity, or inclusion, please submit to edi.stories@nih.gov.

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