Early-career advisory group

Mariana De Niz

Institut Pasteur, France

I can contribute towards increasing openness and integrity in the way science is done and shared by working on a model that breaks down language barriers for science, and as a microscopist, integrating open science into the pipeline of publications that include imaging.

Florencia Fernández Chiappe

Biomedicine Research Institute of Buenos Aires - CONICET - Partner Institute of the Max Planck Society, Argentina

I am currently a PhD student at the Biomedicine Research Institute of Buenos Aires, where I study the neuronal circuits that drive sleep homeostasis in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, with an experimental approach that combines behavioral analysis and patch clamp electrophysiology in the adult brain.

I would like for science to become more equitable, and for that I consider it fundamental to build a more transparent, ethical and open-source type of research communication.

Joined ECAG in August 2019.

Expertise: Neuroscience
Research focus: behavior; neural circuits controlling sleep

Laura Han

University of Melbourne, Australia

During my time as a member I’m hoping to listen to others so I can be an echo box for early-career researchers: grabbing attention for challenges they face, facilitating opportunities that boost our career prospects, and propagating ideas that give joy to an academic career.

Regina Mencia

Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral, Argentina

As a new member I'm hoping to discuss topics that worry the early-career scientists and work together with editors towards a more inclusive and transparent planning system that can boost young scientists’ work.

Divyansh Mittal

Center for Integrative Genomics, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

I want to provide early-career researchers a global platform to present their work to much-wider audiences and open up new collaborative opportunities to take science forward.

Elizabeth Ochola

Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kenya

Elizabeth is passionate about equity and diversity, which she has been pursuing with organizations such as the Ontario Pharmacy Evidence Network (OPEN) Citizens’ Council, the Canadian Pharmacists Scope, and the Journal of Health Care, where she serves on the editorial board. As a new ECAG member, she is primarily interested in supporting eLife to set up ambitious diversity objectives with regard to the gender and ethnic diversity of the editorial board and review committees by encouraging the journal to be responsive to the needs of the communities they serve. Elizabeth’s research examines the impact of Neglected Tropical Diseases on the health and wellbeing of marginalized communities in sub-Saharan Africa.

Carolina Quezada

Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Chile

I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Center of Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology, UNAB, and I work on generation of biological solar cells using biomolecules from extremophile bacteria.

The main changes I would like to see in science are more scientific collaboration networks (in a dream world, open science) and gender equality.

Joined ECAG in August 2019.

Expertise: Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Research focus: microbiology; enzyme engineering; nanoparticles

Facundo Romani

University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

As a Latino working in his home country (Argentina), Facundo knows well the limitations and difficulties of pursuing science and publishing it in developing countries. He is interested in exploring more inclusive criteria to increase the visibility of scientific works made around the globe without compromising the perception of “quality” or “originality”, and offer scientists from developing countries more feasible opportunities to publish. Facundo is a plant molecular biologist and works on the evolution of transcription factors.

Lana Sinapayen

Sony Computer Science Labs, Japan

Lana is the creator of the open science micro-publication platform Mimosa, and a member of the newly created Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee of the ALife community. Lana’s priority is to foster greater collaboration, by exploring initiatives for reciprocal mentoring and skill-sharing, beyond laboratories’ artificial limits and competition-based thinking. Her research interests include computational neuroscience and astrobiology.

Andy Tay

Stanford University, United States
National University of Singapore, Singapore

I am currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in Stanford University and will be starting my independent position in the National University of Singapore in 2020. My research focuses broadly on magnetic biomedicine.

I would like to create better support systems for early career scientists in publishing, science communications and job market navigation.

Joined ECAG in August 2019.

Expertise: Neuroscience
Research focus: pain; neuro-modulation; magnetotactic bacteria; immunotherapy; cancer

Lara Urban

University of Otago, New Zealand

Lara sees supporting junior researchers as an essential part of her scientific career, whether as a student representative at multiple institutes, as a mentor, or as a leader of scientific organisations and societies. She hopes to see major change in research culture, ranging from greater inclusiveness and openness in the scientific community, to a fair and transparent peer-review system. Lara studies how statistical genomics can benefit nature conservation and be incorporated into the management of critically endangered species.

Aalok Varma

National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), India

Formerly an eLife Community Ambassador, Aalok contributed to a meta-research project assessing the reporting quality and accessibility of images in published research articles, and worked on innovations to improve readability of scientific literature. He looks forward to working with other ECAG members and eLife editors to promote wide-ranging systemic change in academia. By joining the group, Aalok hopes to empower other early-career researchers to participate more visibly in all aspects of the scientific community. In his research, he uses zebrafish as a model system to study the development and function of the cerebellum, with a particular focus on Purkinje neuron physiology.

Lamis Yahia Mohamed Elkheir

University of Khartoum, Sudan

I am now extremely excited to join the ECAG which will not only provide me with the unique opportunity to grow within a diverse and resourceful community but will also give me a space to voice the needs of early-career researchers, especially from African developing countries and promote practices that could lead to a healthier research environment.