Fred Hutch hosts new online Atlas of Inspiring Hispanic/ Latinx Scientists

Tired of wondering why conference speaker panels are not more diverse, Christina Termini, PhD, MM, decided to do something about it.

Termini, one of a handful of Hispanic female faculty members at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, created the Atlas of Inspiring Hispanic/Latinx Scientists, an online compendium of nearly 400 Hispanic and Latinx scientists that is now part of Fred Hutch’s website.

"It’s important to give back to my community by showcasing that we are here and bringing awareness to the amazing people that are part of our community,” said Termini, an assistant professor in the Translational Science and Therapeutics and Human Biology Divisions at Fred Hutch.

Her lab examines the role that various sugars play in supporting normal blood and blood cancer cells.

Termini’s challenge: if you need a speaker for a conference, stop assuming exceptional scientists from diverse backgrounds don’t exist. “Go to the atlas and you’ll find hundreds of exceptional scientists right now, and that list is only going to expand,” she said. “The atlas moves the onus of responsibility to the organizers of seminars or search committees to use these resources to find those scientists that you claim are not there.”

For Termini, creating an inclusive and supportive community that nurtures diverse scientists is key to researchers’ scientific and career development. Meanwhile, for rising generations of scientists from disadvantaged backgrounds, the atlas offers a forum of role models.

“As I was considering where to go for a faculty position, I looked around to see who is there, who will identify with me on more levels than just science,” she said. “This atlas has the potential to reinforce the identity of Hispanic and Latinx scientists and show that it is possible to achieve careers in all these different fields.”

Christopher Li, MD, PhD, associate director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Fred Hutch, said that providing a home for this atlas is an important way that Fred Hutch is acknowledging its institutional commitment to DEI.

Highlighting Hispanic and Latinx contributions

Li, who holds the Helen G. Edson Endowed Chair for Breast Cancer Research, has used the atlas to connect with new colleagues throughout the U.S. who are related to his research and his DEI work.

“The atlas is a wonderful resource that highlights the significant scientific accomplishments of Hispanic/Latinx scientists and serves as an incredible resource to link this community of scientists,” he said.

Highlighting Hispanic and Latinx scientists is especially important considering that they represent just 6% of post-secondary faculty members as recently as 2022.

The atlas traces its roots to a list of 100 inspiring Hispanic and Latinx scientists in America that was first published in the journal Cell in 2020. The reception was so enthusiastic that Termini and colleagues around the country — JP Flores, Doris Cruz Alonso, Carolina Gomez Casas and Crystal Dezha-Bolteada — decided to expand the list and maintain it as a permanent database. 

“Once we invited the first 100 on the original list, they invited others and it became this living thing,” said Termini.

Both lists took their inspiration from a list of inspiring Black scientists in America that was spearheaded by Black scientist Antentor Hinton Jr., PhD, an assistant professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Vanderbilt University.

“The previous list was a starting point to consider the power of highlighting people who have been historically excluded in the sciences,” said Termini. The atlas builds on her work co-leading the Dr. Eddie Méndez Scholar Award, which supports early-career scientists from disadvantaged backgrounds at Fred Hutch.

Each year, the atlas will add newly identified researchers in a wide array of STEM fields that includes biomedical fields such as oncology, HIV/AIDS and nursing but also extends to math and ecology.

In addition to Termini and Li, Fred Hutch has three scientists represented in the atlas: cancer cell biologist James Alvarez, PhD, microbiologist Daphne Avgousti, PhD, and genomics and virology scientist Daniel Blanco-Melo, PhD.

Know someone who should be considered for the list? Nominate yourself or someone else using these forms for faculty nominees or non-faculty nominees.