Disciplines:
Medicine & Neuroscience / Cognitive Science & PsychologyAs the first African American to complete a PhD in Neurobiology at Duke University, psychiatrist Kafui Dzirasa is pushing the limits in more ways than one. His research is focused on rethinking the framework that currently dictates the way we diagnose, view, and treat mental illness. Through his work, Kafui hopes to reveal links between brain circuit malfunction and symptoms of mental illness, with the ultimate goal of producing neuroelectrical stimulation remedies for these diseases. Kafui is currently an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the Duke University School of Medicine. In 2008, he was recognized as one of Ebony Magazine’s 30 Young Leaders of the Future and his laboratory has been featured on CBS 60 Minutes.
Kafui has served as an Associate Scientific Advisor for the journal Science Translational Medicine, and he was a member of the Congressional-mandated Next Generation Research Initiative. He currently serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for TEDMED, and the Advisory committee for the NIH Director for the BRAIN Initiative.
Kafui has served on the Board of Directors of the Student National Medical Association: a national organization dedicated to the eradication of health care disparities. Through his service as Chapter President, Region IV Director and National Internal Affairs Committee Chair, Kafui has participated in numerous programs geared towards exposing youth to science and technology, providing health education for underserved communities, and organizing clinics to screen for chronic diseases.
By Kafui Dzirasa, Duke University
John completed his undergraduate and Ph.D. training in the biomedical sciences at two of the most prestigious institutions in the country. He received one of the nation’s most competitive fellowships to accelerate his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of a Nobel laureate, and he has now entered what is thought to be a person’s years of greatest scientific creativity. And yet, after more than five years of additional preparation to lead his own research team, this brilliant, creative young scientist has decided to leave academia. As the cost of living skyrockets, John no longer finds his salary sufficient to support his family.
Though I’ve changed his name to protect his privacy, John’s story is real and highlights struggles I’ve seen play out again and again among young scientists. Facing low pay, crushing student debt and barriers to launching their own laboratories, early-career researchers are leaving academia in droves. Inflation has worsened the problem, pushing wages further behind rising living expenses and driving strikes like the recent one at the University of California system. Our next generation of scientists is drowning, putting American science and progress in peril.
Read the full article at Inside Higher Ed.
This article was produced by Footnote in partnership with Duke University.
Get in touch about this workBy Reihane Boghrati, Arizona State University
John completed his undergraduate and Ph.D. training in the biomedical sciences at two of the most prestigious institutions in the country. He received one of the nation’s most competitive fellowships to accelerate his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of a Nobel laureate, and he has now entered what is thought to be a person’s years […]
By Julia Stewart Lowndes, Openscapes
John completed his undergraduate and Ph.D. training in the biomedical sciences at two of the most prestigious institutions in the country. He received one of the nation’s most competitive fellowships to accelerate his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of a Nobel laureate, and he has now entered what is thought to be a person’s years […]
By Peter Cardon, University of California
John completed his undergraduate and Ph.D. training in the biomedical sciences at two of the most prestigious institutions in the country. He received one of the nation’s most competitive fellowships to accelerate his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of a Nobel laureate, and he has now entered what is thought to be a person’s years […]
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