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Brilliant open-ness and vulnerability which I will try to bring into my own ways of helping reduce stigma for mental health.

Seminar attendee

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��«Ӱҵ's School of Biosciences were delighted to welcome Dr Mikel Haggadone, PhD Candidate in the University of Michigan Medical School, as a recent speaker for the Biosciences #Inspire lecture series. 

The Biosciences #Inspire lectures aim to champion scientists from underrepresented and minority groups in the Biosciences, and promote discussions about how to create a more inclusive working and learning environment.

The event was aimed at promoting conversations around mental health and wellbeing across the Biosciences. It consisted of a talk from an invited speaker outside the University and was followed by a discussion panel with people from across the Biosciences.

Mikel talked about his experience with mental illness and his activities as an outspoken advocate for educational initiatives focused on supporting the growth and emotional well-being of students.

More about Dr Mikel Haggadone

Mikel Haggadone (he/him/his) is a PhD candidate in the University of Michigan’s Graduate Program in Immunology where his research has focused on the immunobiology of extracellular vesicles in the lung. After completing his degree in October, Mike will begin his post-doctoral fellowship as part of the University of Pennsylvania's Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) program. Professionally, Mike is most passionate about holistic teaching and mentorship with a specific emphasis on mental health in academia.

Accordingly, since leaving his first graduate program after struggling with mental illness, Mike has been an outspoken advocate for educational initiatives focused on supporting the growth and emotional well-being of students. Additionally, outside of his academic pursuits, Mike enjoys ultra-distance trail running as a platform to financially support mental health counselling for those in need. To combine his personal and professional interests, Mike thoroughly enjoys writing about finding meaning and purpose in life.

��«Ӱҵ Dr Teresa Evans

Dr Teresa Evans is a trained scientist, leader and consultant whose passion involves cultivating innovation and performance within bioscience and healthcare. For her work in these fields, she was honoured with the inclusion in the San Antonio 40 under 40 class of 2018. Dr Evans has tackled challenges in the bioscience ecosystem that align with her key focus areas: biomedical commercialisation, military/DoD relevant projects, economic development, and STEM education. Currently, Dr Evans is a Principal Consultant for TiER1 Performance, an employee-owned consulting firm that activates business strategies through people. In this role, she leads projects in the military and healthcare fields.

Additionally, Dr Evans has lead a large team of medical professionals as the COO for Cancer Insight and Trauma Insight, sister Contract Research Organisations focused on supporting the commercialisation of cancer immunotherapy and military relevant innovations in trauma and critical care respectively, through design and execution of pre-clinical and clinical trials. She also holds an adjunct faculty position at UT Health San Antonio and oversees Research Education for Texas Biomedical Research Institute, where her work focuses on growing the STEM workforce of San Antonio through promoting K-12 Science Teacher Professional Development. 

After receiving a PhD in Neuroscience from UT Health San Antonio, she has contributed to the life science community as a faculty member there and published several peer-reviewed manuscripts in the fields of neuroscience and science education. Her publication in Nature Biotechnology titled “Evidence for a Mental Health Crisis in Graduate Education” has garnered significant national attention. She has received several grants from both the National Institutes of Health and private foundations as well as is the author of a book on the essential career guidance topics for scientists. Having been a Partner at the RealCo Seed Fund Program where she guided the successful raising of funds for multiple seed rounds for portfolio companies and was instrumental in the design of a novel commercialisation program tailored to the needs of start-up founders. Dr Evans possesses commercialisation expertise that spans both bioscience and technology verticals. Throughout her work across the academic and industrial sectors of San Antonio life sciences and technology, Teresa has developed a reputation as an advocate for the advancement of innovation through her abilities to communicate and connect with a wide variety of professionals across a variety of disciplines.