Danielle Goldman, MS, a PhD student in the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program who conducts research in the Mood Disorders Research Program at Yale School of Medicine, has been selected to be an Early Career Policy Ambassador by the Society for Neuroscience.
The program is for early career scientists and allows ambassadors to interact with leading neuroscience advocates and meet policymakers. Ambassadors are chosen based on their history of involvement in public policy, advocacy, and outreach; prior roles that strengthened their leadership; and their passion to communicate science to the public.
Society of Neuroscience hosts events that help ambassadors build a strong network with other ambassadors, experts in advocacy, and policy makers. One of the first events will be a virtual Capitol Hill Day so ambassadors can communicate with elected leaders and their staffs about advancements in neuroscience and to advocate for national investment in research.
Goldman received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Columbia University, where her master’s thesis in bioethics focused on the utility of genetic technologies in diagnosing heterogeneous pediatric neurology patients. Her secondary interest was in the utility of neuroimaging evidence in the juvenile justice system.
There is need for more accessible environments for underrepresented individuals to have support in pursuing scientific research careers.
Danielle Goldman, MS -- PhD student, Yale School of Medicine
At Yale her research is conducted under the mentorship of Hilary Blumberg, MD, John and Hope Furth Professor of Psychiatric Neuroscience and Professor of Psychiatry, and in the Child Study Center and of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging. Blumberg directs the Mood Disorders Research Program, where Goldman is examining the neurobiological correlates of, and risk factors for, abnormal developmental trajectories in mood-related psychopathology.
Her interests in advocacy are two-pronged: emphasizing need for adolescent mental health research funding (including recent COVID-19 impacts) and considering influences that federal funding decreases can have on students. “There is need for more accessible environments for underrepresented individuals to have support in pursuing scientific research careers,” she said.
“As an ambassador, I will additionally partake in numerous advocacy activities in my own community over the next year including spearheading some at Yale,” she said. “This will include engaging in outreach activities fostering brain awareness and hosting educational events for my fellow graduate students to inform them of ways they can get involved in policy and encourage them to be advocates for science in their communities.”