Senior Mentors (Faculty)
Dr. Lisa L. Harlow (Senior Personnel & Senior Mentor) received her Ph.D. in Psychometrics from UCLA and is Professor Emeritus at the University of Rhode Island. She is a recipient of the American Psychological Association (APA) Division 5 Jacob Cohen Distinguished Teacher and Mentor Award, two Scholarly Excellence awards, and a past president of the APA Division 5 and the Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology. Her main focus is on increasing interest, diversity, understanding, and retention in quantitative science. She has 90+ publications and $8,300,000+ in grants on advancing science, health, and minority training in quantitative science. She is Editor of the Taylor & Francis/LEA Multivariate Application Book Series and the Psychological Methods journal; and co-organizer of Quantitative Training for Underrepresented Groups, funded by NSF (Grant #0720063). Previously, she was a Co-PI on NSF grants to Advance Women in STEM Disciplines (Grant# 0245039) and on Multidisciplinary Science and Engineering Learning Communities.
Dr. Mentewab Ayalew is an Associate Professor of Biology at Spelman College. She obtained her PhD in Plant Cellular and Molecular Biology at the Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Agronomie de Toulouse in France. Since joining the faculty ranks at Spelman she has put considerable emphasis on the integration of research, teaching and student development. She has been leading efforts to infuse quantitative and computational approaches in research and education in Biology, including building the department’s partnership with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard as well as providing faculty development and support through a series of NSF funded workshops in the area of Biological Big Data. In her research, she uses modeling approaches as well as metagenomics and metatranscriptomic analysis in her quest to understand antibiotic resistance in plants. Dr. Ayalew is also the co-director of the Living and Learning in and Interdisciplinary Community of STEM Scholars (LINCS), a program initiated in fall 2015 to foster the intellectual engagement and provide mentoring and development opportunities to Spelman students aspiring to pursue a STEM PhD or an MD/PhD.
Alexandria Hadd is an assistant professor of psychology at Spelman College in Atlanta, where she teaches courses on statistics and research methods. She earned her PhD in quantitative psychology at Vanderbilt University and her BS in psychology and mathematics from Oglethorpe University. Her research interests include applying modeling techniques to developmental, educational, and environmental psychology questions, with an emphasis on secondary data analysis. She has extensive experience with statistical software, including R, SAS, Mplus, Stata, and (if absolutely necessary) SPSS. Her hobbies include hiking, analog collaging, attending art and music shows, and raising chickens and worms (who are simultaneously pets and dedicated composting team members).
Dr. Kimberly Williams is an Assistant Professor in the Environmental and Health Sciences Program at Spelman College. She attended Johnson C. Smith University where she majored in Biology and minored in Chemistry. She received her PhD in neuroscience from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. After graduate school, Dr. Williams completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. As a viral neuroimmunologist, Dr. Williams’ research investigates how HIV and stress affect the brain during aging, with hopes of creating new targeted therapeutics for mental health disorders influenced by neuroinflammation such as HIV associated neurocognitive disorders and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Dr. Williams has published over 10 publications and received multiple grants for the National Institute of Health and private agencies. Dr. Williams was honored with the young investigators award twice from the Society on Neuroimmune Pharmacology and the International Society for Neurovirology. She is highly involved in community outreach and has been the featured scientist at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. Dr. Williams has devoted her career to mentoring young scientist while increasing diversity in the sciences and developing novel therapeutic options for those living with neuroinflammatory disorders.
Junior Mentors
Kathleen Bostick is a rising senior, Biology major at Spelman College. She served as a Junior Mentor for the 2021 summer program and returned for the 2022 summer program. Kathleen coordinated team building activities for the Scholars.
Nymeer Caston is a Biology major at Alabama A & M University. Nymeer was a 2021 Summer INSPIRE U2 Scholar. Her project was titled “Impact Of Aminoglycosides On Soil Suppression Of The Rhizosphere: A Systematic Review”. She served as a Junior Mentor to Camilla Augustus and Kathrine Ulbricht for the Summer 2022 program.
Najalynn Chandler is a Biology major at Jackson State University. Najalynn was a 2021 INSPIRE U2 Scholar. Her project was titled “The Association Between Income And Urbanicity On The Eating Behaviors Of Southern Black Women”. She served as a Junior Mentor to Theodora Alese and Valeria Sanchez Estrada for the Summer 2022 program.
Nia Naylor is a Political Science major at Howard University. Nia was a 2021 INSPIRE U2 Scholar Her project was titled “Educational Attainment And Its Role In The Lives Of Black Young Adults”. She served as a Junior Mentor to Victoria Rivera and Olivia Robinson for the Summer 2022 program.