I am glad that @CSRpeerreview is taking steps to revamp the fellowship review process. I am a frequent reviewer of F applications and have served as a mentor to several trainees with F31/F32 grants. Here are some of my specific concerns with the current process; 🧵

https://twitter.com/peiferlabunc/status/1481020760659398658

1. Grades are not relevant to the evaluation of research and training potential and should not be part of the application or the review process. Trainees are often highly demoralized by Reviewer comments about poor grades.

“We had plenty of talented, highly qualified women ready to advance to leadership positions at Genentech, but we weren’t doing a good job of recognizing them”

hbr.org/2021/06/how-on… “To raise their visibility, we held leaders accountable for identifying women on their teams who were primed to move to the next level in their careers and then advocating for them in talent-review discussions”

“The more decorated a male scientist is, the fewer women he trains, and universities hire their junior faculty members from these elite men’s labs” theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/… “”When I go to a venture-capital group of only men,” Nacy said, “I do most of the speaking, and my chief business officer and I watch faces. If they’re incredulous about something I’ve said, he’ll repeat the same thing—and then it’ll be just fine.””

It’s hard to appreciate the experience of being a F1 student in this country unless you’ve been one. And no matter how far you’ve come in life, you cannot forget the anxiety, the years separated from family and everything familiar, not being present at weddings, deaths, births... Because you cannot afford to travel or because you fear cannot come back in. The desperate need to fit in, yet maintain your connections. The friends you make, often immigrants like yourself, telling your family you are ok many times when you are not