Dr. Ngan Huang has a strong track record of interest in promoting the advancement of women, veterans, and other underrepresented minorities in STEM careers. She is a member of the Diversity Committee of several important biomedical engineering and vascular biology societies, including:
- Diversity Committee Member, Biomedical Engineering Society
- Diversity Committee Member, Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, American Heart Association
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Member, North American Vascular Biology Organization (NAVBO)
- Diversity Committee Member, Cell and Molecular Bioengineering Special Interest Group, Biomedical Engineering Society
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force Member, Society for Vascular Medicine
In alignment with the mission of the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS) to serve the veterans, our laboratory has a strong interest and an established track record in promoting the educational development of military veteran college students from Cañada College, a Hispanic-serving local community college. To integrate our research with educational outreach, Dr. Huang frequently performs various activities, including guest lecturing on fundamental bioengineering concepts in a STEM seminar series at Cañada College; and by providing a research experience for Cañada veteran undergraduate students in our laboratory. Our goal is to ultimately increase the participation of veterans and underrepresented minorities in STEM-related education and careers. Additionally, our laboratory also participates in other outreach opportunities to promote STEM education to high school and college students.
2023
September
Bay Area Stanford Regenerative Medicine Conference for Students—A TERMIS-AM Ambassador’s Conference
Dr. Huang was the conference organizer for this inaugural conference that targets students from underserved communities and URM backgrounds. With over 240 registrants, this conference exposed students to peer scientific research, careers in STEM, and exposure to regenerative medicine. This conference also honored Dr. Jessica Preciado, PhD as the inaugural keynote speaker and recipient of the “Excellence in Regenerative Medicine” award.
The conference awarded student oral presenters with a Shooting Star Award. Student presenters ranged from high school to postdoctoral fellows. Credit: Caroline Hu
July
Danny Lo joins the lab
Danny Lo is a summer intern who is from a URM background. This is his first bioengineering laboratory research experience.
VA Palo Alto Internship Initiative
Dr. Huang is a co-director of the inaugural VA Palo Alto undergraduate research summer program. This summer internship is in collaboration with the Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Research. The students in this program were primarily from underrepresented or disadvantaged backgrounds. Students gained exposure to research and promoted STEM. Read about the experience of the students here: Empowering The Next Generation Through VA Palo Alto’s Internship Initiative | VA Palo Alto Health Care | Veterans Affairs
2022
June
Dr. Beu Oropeza, PhD joins as a new postdoc in the Huang lab! Beu is a URM who brings unique perspective and diversity to the lab. Welcome Beu!
May
Dr. Huang is featured on the website of the Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Research that discusses her recent tissue engineering research aboard the International Space Station to study muscle wasting.
March
Dr. Huang was an invited speaker for the STEM Speaker Series at Cañada College, a local Hispanic-serving community college. Dr. Huang talked about tissue regeneration research including research in space for muscle regeneration. This talk is intended to inspire the next generation of students to pursue STEM careers.
2021
October
Dr. Huang served on a panelist at the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute Early Career Roundtable related to career development and grant proposal writing. In this virtual event, she provided advice about grant writing and fellowship opportunities for postdoctoral fellows to advance their careers.
September
Mentoring: What makes a good mentor and how does a productive mentor/mentee relationship lead to advancements in a trainee’s career development? By interviewing winners of the Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology Mentor of Women award, we distill the knowledge gained about mentoring, diversity, and inclusion in this publication:
Zhang H, Bouman-Chen Z, Fredman G, Gomez D, Gumbach IM, Huang NF, Nguyen P, Oumet M, Sutton N, Aikawa E. What Makes a Great Mentor: Interviews with Recipients of the ATVB Mentor of Women Award. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, 41:2641-2647, 2021.
Trainee Focused Session: As part of the International Society for Applied Cardiovascular Biology Biennial Meeting at Emory University, Dr. Huang co-organized a trainee session by inviting medical students at both Emory University and Morehouse School of Medicine to discuss academic career development, research opportunities, and mentor/mentee relationship for diverse communities. The keynote featured Dr. Brandon Henry, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Vascular Surgery at Morehouse School of Medicine
June
Welcome Chisomaga Ekwueme from the University of California Davis as a summer research intern through the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute Undergraduate Summer Research program. We look forward to doing great science with you!
2020
September
The research of Dr. Huang and postdoctoral fellow, Alex Chan, is featured in the VA Currents, a publication that disseminates Veteran-related research to the Veteran community. The article focuses on our research to study the efficacy of stem cell therapy to individuals with prior smoking history or nicotine use.
August
Dr. Huang talks about her career path to college students from the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute Undergraduate Research Program. Many of the students are from underrepresented groups.
July
Dr. Huang gives a guest seminar to high school students in the Stanford University EXPLORE Lecture Series on Biomedical Research For High School Students. Her talk is on "Stem Cell Approaches to Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering"
Dr. Huang gives a guest seminar to high school students in the Girls in Science and Engineering (GSE) Stanford Summer Program. It is a no-cost, virtual summer camp designed for high school girls interested in STEM, run by a group of Stanford undergraduates passionate about STEM outreach. Participants will also see presentations by female Stanford professors where they will learn about their research, experiences, and career paths
February
Dr. Huang is the instructor of the 2020 Progenitor Cell Biology Consortium Cardiovascular Differentiation Lab Course that is sponsored by the NIH. The students are comprised of trainees from around the US for this week-long hands-on laboratory course related to cardiovascular differentiation.
Shown here is Alex Chan, a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Huang’s laboratory who is assisting in the course by teaching students the morphological features of cardiovascular cells
2019
May
Dr. Huang is among several faculty members to present to students at Boston University to promote diversity in STEM education and research. Her presentation is on "Multidisciplinary Approaches to Solve Biomedical Problems."
March
Dr. Huang gives a guest seminar to students at Cañada College, a local Hispanic serving college, to promote STEM education and careers. See her talk on YouTube.
2018
July
Dr. Huang gives a guest seminar to high school students in the Stanford University EXPLORE Lecture Series on Biomedical Research For High School Students. Her talk is on "Stem Cell Approaches to Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering."
June
Adam Davies, a rising junior at University of California Davis, joins the laboratory as our summer intern through a funded grant from the US Department of Education Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program.
May
Dr. Huang was among three faculty who have outreach talks to undergraduates about "Bringing Diversity To Science." The talks were organized by the Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis & Vascular Biology Council of the American Heart Association. The talks were held at Cañada College, a Hispanic-serving local college with a large veteran population.
2017
August
We are honored that the national veteran publication, Veterans Affairs Research Currents, featured two veteran undergraduates in our lab, Nick Mezak and Nick McMenomy and their interest in biomedical research.
June
Nicholas McMenomy, a veteran an undergraduate student at San Jose State University, joins the laboratory as our summer intern through a funded grant from the US Department of Education Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program.
April
Dr. Huang is the instructor of the 2017 Progenitor Cell Biology Consortium Cardiovascular Differentiation Lab Course that is sponsored by the NIH. The students are comprised of trainees from around the US for this week-long hands-on laboratory course related to cardiovascular differentiation.
2015
July
Veteran undergraduate researcher Nicholas Mezak was featured in the Veterans resource publication, G.I. Jobs, for his research in the Huang lab. Nick strives to inspire other Veterans to pursue research biomedical careers.
March
Dr. Huang gave an invited lecture at a STEM Seminar Series at Cañada College on "Stem Cell Approaches to Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering."
February
Dr. Huang is the instructor of the 2015 Progenitor Cell Biology Consortium Cardiovascular Differentiation Lab Course that is sponsored by the NIH. The students are comprised of trainees from around the US for this week-long hands-on laboratory course related to cardiovascular differentiation.”
2014
August
We welcome Nick Mezak, a Veteran college student from Cañada College for a research internship in the Huang lab!
February
Dr. Huang is the instructor of the 2014 Progenitor Cell Biology Consortium Cardiovascular Differentiation Lab Course that is sponsored by the NIH. The students are comprised of trainees from around the US for this week-long hands-on laboratory course related to cardiovascular differentiation.