Join the Office of Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Panel Discussion inspired by the documentary Film “Picture a Scientist.” The film showcases three women scientists and their journey deep into their own experiences of overcoming brutal harassment, institutional discrimination, and years of subtle slights to revolutionize science’s culture. The discussion aims to generate dialogue on fostering a diverse, inclusive, and understanding environment throughout the NIH community.

To join, tune in to NIH VideoCast | April 8, 2021 | 2-3pm
Download the event flyer

Meet the Panelists

Janine Austin Clayton, MD, FARVO
Dr. Janine Austin Clayton was appointed Associate Director for Research on Women’s Health and Director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Clayton was previously the Deputy Clinical Director of the National Eye Institute (NEI). A board-certified ophthalmologist, Dr. Clayton’s research interests include autoimmune ocular diseases and the role of sex and gender in health and disease. Dr. Clayton has a particular interest in ocular surface disease and discovered a novel form of disease associated with premature ovarian insufficiency that affects young women, setting the stage for her commitment to rigorous, thoughtful exploration of the role of sex and gender in health and disease. She is the author of more than 120 scientific publications, journal articles, and book chapters. Her clinical research has ranged from randomized controlled trials of novel therapies for immune-mediated ocular diseases to studies on the development of digital imaging techniques for the anterior segment.

Elizabeth Murphy, Ph.D.
Dr. Elizabeth Murphy is a Chief of the Cardiac Physiology Section in the Cardiovascular Branch at NHLBI, Bethesda, Maryland. She received her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania followed by postdoctoral studies in Physiology at Duke University. She studies ionic, redox and energetic alterations in cardiac cell death and protection. Her research has focused on mechanisms regulating sex differences in cardiovascular disease. She served as the first Women Scientists Advisor for NIEHS from 1993-1994, and after moving to NHLBI she served as the Women Scientists Advisor for NHLBI from 2007 to 2013. She also served as chair of the NIH wide assembly of Women Scientists Advisors from 2016-2018, and she is a current member of the NIH wide WSA-executive committee. She was a member of the NIH Equity Committee from 2018-2020 and she was a recipient in 2019 of the NIH Director’s Award for service on the NIH Equity Committee. She received the NHLBI Award for Outstanding Mentorship in 2011. She is a Fellow of the International Society for Heart Research and the American Heart Association and serves as Deputy Editor of Circulation Research and Consulting Editor for Cardiovascular Research. She is also the North American Coordinator of a Leducq Transatlantic Network of Excellence on Targeting Mitochondria to Treat Heart Disease.

Gina S. Wei, MD, MPH
Dr. Wei is an Associate Director of the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences (DCVS) at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institutes of Health. She also directs DCVS’ Prevention and Population Sciences Program, which funds and provides leadership for population- and clinic-based research on the causes, prevention, and clinical care of heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders. Notable studies in her Program have included Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), the Framingham Heart Study, the Jackson Heart Study, and the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT), to name a few. Also in the Program is the NHLBI’s Data Access Committee leadership team. Dr. Wei has played leadership roles on several Trans-NHLBI efforts in population sciences, precision medicine, data science, and women’s health. She co-chairs NHLBI Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Team and represents NHLBI on the NIH Coordinating Committee on Research on Women’s Health. Dr. Wei was part of the NIH-team that led the design and built the NIH All of Us Research Program (previously called the Precision Medicine Initiative–Cohort Program) and until spring of 2020 was the lead NHLBI representative to the All of Us trans-NIH Liaisons Coordinating Team.

Neysha Martinez-Orengo, Ph.D.

Dr. Neysha Martinez-Orengo was born and raised in southern Puerto Rico where she earned her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the Ponce Health Sciences University. Her relationship with NIH started while in high school when she did a research summer internship sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Later on, while in her senior year as an undergraduate student, she was selected as an Intramural National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Research Opportunities (INRO) alumni. This led to the acceptance of a summer internship and a 1-year postbac position at the NIH Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana, followed by another 1-year postbac at the NIH main campus, Bethesda. Her doctoral thesis work, which focused on elucidating the molecular regulation of HIV-1 Nef neuropathogenesis by the Transforming Growth Factor beta, was also supported by an NIH F31 fellowship. Neysha is currently an Intramural Training Research Award (IRTA) postdoctoral fellow at Dr. Dima Hammoud’s laboratory, working on the validation of candidate imaging biomarkers of infectious diseases to better understand the pathophysiology of disease and improve non-invasive diagnostic techniques. She is a STEAM advocate (particularly among underrepresented groups), actively creating and participating in community engagement activities at the intersection of science, education, and policy. She is member of several STEM advocacy groups, including Ciencia Puerto Rico and the Science Policy Discussion Group at NIH.

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.

For news, updates, and videos, follow or subscribe to EDI on: Twitter, Instagram, Blog, YouTube.