Philadelphia SPINE (Symposium for Postdoctoral Initiatives in Neuroscience Excellence)

Philadelphia SPINE is an annual postdoctoral symposium based in Philadelphia that seeks to showcase the best nationwide postdoctoral talent in the field of neuroscience, with the goal of promoting diversity in academia. Selected speakers will present their work in a day-long symposium to the Philadelphia neuroscience community, comprising postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and faculty from the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Drexel University and Thomas Jefferson University.

Speakers will be postdoctoral candidates with a significant body of scientific work. We especially invite participation from postdocs who have contributed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts or are from backgrounds that have been historically marginalized in academia.

P-SPINE aims to benefit the entire scientific community

1. Invited postdoctoral speakers: present work to a diverse group of Philadelphia-based neuroscientists, meet and network with PIs and postdoctoral fellows in the field, gain critical exposure to the Philadelphia academic job market.

2. Local postdoctoral fellows: network with other national and local neuroscience postdocs; establish and build relationships with regional neuroscientists in the area, including PIs and other postdoctoral fellows, develop possible collaborations.

3. Local graduate students: get great previews of the best science in neuroscience labs across the country, access candid information about potential postdoctoral opportunities, establish and build relationships with regional neuroscientists in the area, including PIs and postdoctoral fellows and other graduate students, develop possible collaborations.

4. Faculty: catch up on cutting edge neuroscience research, develop new collaborations with outstanding junior scientists, get a head-start on launching next year’s faculty search!

P-SPINE and Efforts towards Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The diversity of interesting questions in neuroscience is only paralleled by the diversity of neuroscientists seeking to address them. Despite this, there have been long-standing inequities in representation for many groups in the field of neuroscience. These inequities are self-reinforcing and further perpetuate the current status quo with widespread ramifications – faculty ranks devoid of underrepresented groups, graduate students with few role models and a lack of support required for success throughout career development. These are big, complex challenges that cannot be fixed in a few years. Nevertheless, P-SPINE is dedicated to making sustained progress on these issues via:

1. Commitment to selection of fellows that represent the full diversity of neuroscience – this includes diversity of scientific topics and institution.

2. Commitment to an inclusive selection of speakers from diverse populations historically marginalized in academia.

3. Commitment towards developing connections with geographic regions and higher-education institutions not typically in open contact with the Philadelphia area. The metropolitan Philadelphia area is highly diverse and has a great deal to offer students, trainees and faculty. We envision P-SPINE as a foundation to build novel nation-wide pipelines to the Philadelphia neuroscience community. Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in developing these connections with P-SPINE.  

4. Commitment to diversity and inclusion via the recruitment of additional board members to broaden the lived experiences of those driving P-SPINE into the future.