DEI Council and Faculty DEI Committee Members

Hallie Dowling-Francisco holds a Master’s of Education in Community Engagement and Higher Education Administration from Merrimack College. Prior to arriving at MIT, she worked at Emory University’s Center for Civic and Community Engagement, where she led the Emory Votes Initiative, a program focused on civic and voter engagement. In addition, she was responsible for creating and maintaining materials focused on trainings to help build inclusive communities — and led projects to forge relationships and coalitions within the community. She has also served as the Retention Coordinator in the Office of Latino Students Services at Georgia State University.

As MIT Biology’s DEI Officer, Hallie works directly with students, postdocs, staff, and faculty to identify and implement mechanisms and programs that promote equity and inclusion — with the goal of making the Department a more welcoming, supportive, and vibrant place. She partners with the Department’s DEI Council and Faculty DEI Committee, and other organizations and groups within the department and across the Institute that have similar missions. She is also a member of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA).

Maria Carreira is a third-year PhD Candidate in Joey Davis’ lab. She works on developing deep learning tools to analyze structural heterogeneity in single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) data. As part of the DEI council, she looks forward to supporting international trainees, namely graduate students and postdocs, navigate the department and providing opportunities for community building. She islikewise excited about creating intradepartmental mentorship opportunities for graduate students across different classes with similar research interests.

Dr. Darcy Gordon is a staff representative and works in the department as an Instructor of Blended and Online Learning Initiatives. She applies her scientific and pedagogical expertise to make learning experiences more inclusive, accessible, and equitable within and beyond the Biology Department. Finding creative approaches to address the needs and interests of our community through collaboration motivates her involvement in the council.

As a postdoc in the Laub lab, Daniel is passionate about fostering a stronger sense of community and expanding mentorship opportunities within our department. His vision for the coming years is to cultivate an environment where colleagues know each other better and everyone feels a deeper sense of belonging. He believes the DEI council provides an excellent platform to pursue these objectives and other important initiatives that will enhance our departmental culture.

As an MIT Biology Postdoctoral Fellow and council representative, Expery is dedicated to cultivating a research environment where diverse perspectives nurtures creativity and drive innovation.

Joshua Stone is one of the staff representatives for the Biology DEI council. His primary role at MIT involves working with the undergraduate program in the biology education office. Josh believes the power of diversity can bring a community closer together through open exchanges of communication and inclusion of ideas and opinions. He also believes that the understanding of equity and empathy can build a stronger and more robust community for all members.

Ayantu is an undergraduate student in course 6-7. They are very passionate about improving faculty recruitment processes to more effectively recruit faculty from diverse backgrounds, as well as providing more mentorship and support resources for undergrads, grad students, post docs, and other department members. They are looking forward to a productive year with the DEI council.

Sophia Yao is an undergraduate student studying 6-7 (computer science and molecular biology) and has been a part of the Biology department for 2 years. She is excited to be on the DEI council and is looking forward to making MIT biology an even more welcoming and supportive community.

Victory is a senior in 6-7. She previously UROP’ed in Jonathan Weissman’s lab at the Whitehead Institute, and now UROP (since start of junior year) in Caroline Uhler’s lab at the Broad Institute. During the past academic year, she served as Undergrad President of the MIT Biotech Group (MBG) and will be the President of the African Students Association (ASA) in the coming year. I am passionate about building and transforming Africa’s molecular medicine/biotechnology industry, particularly in Nigeria, where I’m from. I hope that while on the Course 7 DEI council, I can use knowledge from my past experiences and passion for my future aspirations to address issues that affect minority students like me at MIT, within the life sciences. She is passionate about building and transforming Africa’s molecular medicine/biotechnology industry, particularly in Nigeria, where she is from . She hopes that while on the Course 7 DEI council, she can use knowledge from her past experiences and passion for her future aspirations to address issues that affect minority students like her at MIT, within the life sciences.

In deciding where to be a faculty member, it was important to Adam to be at an institution where he would be able to teach, encourage, inspire, and help students. One of his responsibilities in the department is to be a co-undergraduate officer – where he has had the opportunity to help students from many backgrounds. He also actively is involved in first year advising (both undergraduate and graduate level), because it is important for him that students are welcomed into our community.

Yukiko Yamashita is  a Professor of Biology; Core Member of the Whitehead Institute and co chair of the DEI council and chair of the DEI Faculty Committee.  She is part of the council  and  committee because she believes that the best ingredient for the best science is individuals’ unique perspectives. For this reason, she wants to go beyond ‘typical’ DEI matters and help discover/nourish/realize talents in science.

Mike Laub is the Salvador E. Luria Professor of Biology in building 68.

Sebastian Lourido is an associate Professor of Biology and a Core Member of the Whitehead Institute.

Yadira Soto-Feliciano is an Assistant Professor of Biology; Intramural Faculty, Koch Institute. She is co- chair of Catalyst Symposium organizing committee for 2025.

Iain Cheeseman is the Herman and Margaret Sokol Professor of Biology; Core Member, Whitehead Institute and Associate Department Head.

Jackie Lees is the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research and is the Associate Director of the Koch Institute.

Matt Vander Heiden is the Director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and the Lester Wolfe Professor of Molecular Biology.