National Postdoctoral Association

The NPA Diversity Statement

The National Postdoctoral Association seeks to promote diversity and ensure equal opportunity and inclusion for all postdocs in the membership, leadership and activities of the National Postdoctoral Association regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, disability, national origin, socio-economic status, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

The NPA Diversity Officer

The NPA is committed to addressing the diversity issues in the postdoc community.  To assist in this effort, the NPA created the position of Diversity Officer.  The Diversity Officer serves as the public face of Diversity Postdoc issues for the NPA and is the primary resource and expert advisor for the NPA Board of Directors, the staff, and committees.

The specific responsibilities of the NPA Diversity Officer include the following:

• Assist in the development and maintenance of NPA resources on diversity.
• Advocate for increased diversity among postdoctoral scholars, ensuring the needs of under-represented groups are addressed.
• Maintain and expand relationships with federal agencies and national organizations that have an interest in diversity issues and policies.
• Monitor external policies and developments on diversity issues.
• Address public inquiries on the NPA policies and recommended practices on increasing and maintaining diversity within the postdoc community.

Meet Our Diversity Officers

Mesia Moore Steed, Ph.D.
(Contact)

Mesia Moore Steed received both her B.A. in Exercise Physiology and Ph.D. in Physiology and Biophysics from the University of Louisville, in Louisville, KY, the home of the Kentucky Derby.  Upon completion of her graduate studies, she accepted a postdoctoral appointment at Wake Forest University in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and has now transitioned into the Hypertension and Vascular Research Center in the laboratory of Dr. Debra Diz.  While at Wake Forest, Mesia has had the opportunity to further develop her interest in diversity issues while serving in several leadership roles including co-chair of the Postdoctoral Association.  Her leadership extends beyond the PDA and is currently a member of the WFU Postdoctoral Steering Committee for postdoctoral affairs and the Professional Development Advisory Committee for the Graduate School.  During her postdoctoral studies, Mesia developed an interest in research integrity.  She has served as a small group facilitator and discussion leader for the WFU graduate school curriculum in bioethics, professionalism, and responsible conduct and was recently selected to be a recipient of the Office of Research Integrity-NPA postdoctoral ambassador award to attend the Quest for Research Excellence conference.  Mesia also has extensive interest in minority outreach and was previously selected to be the American Physiological Society’s first K-12 Minority Outreach Fellow.  This is Mesia’s first appointment with the NPA and she is committed to promoting an environment of diversity and inclusion.

Alexandra Corrales, Ph.D.
(Contact)

Alexandra Corrales completed her undergraduate training in Biology at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia-Bogota, and her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology from Stony Brook University (SBU), NY in 2009.  She is currently the NSF-AGEP postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Inclusive Education in Stony Brook University where she has dedicated her time to the evaluation of the SUNY AGEP program.  The goal of this evaluation project is to analyze the conditions required for the institutionalization of the most effective policies and practices that emerged through the Alliance for the Graduate Education and de Professoriate in NY State.  Since 2010 she participates in the Stony Brook University Assessment Subcommittee who is developing a university plan to guide academic program-level assessment.  Her current interest is to obtain experience with scholarly activities designed to facilitate research and professional development experiences for underrepresented minority and disadvantaged students; specifically research on interventions and initiatives that broaden participation.