Bankston Lab

Adriana Bankston, Ph.D. is a Biomedical Workforce & Policy Research Investigator in the SRC Policy Lab. As the first-ever AAAS/ASGCT Congressional Policy Fellow, Adriana currently works to support sustained federal research funding in the U.S. House of Representatives. Adriana was previously a Principal Legislative Analyst at the University of California Office of Federal Governmental Relations, where she served as an advocate for the university with Congress, the Administration and federal agencies. She is a Strategic Advisor of the Journal of Science Policy & Governance, and a former Fellow with Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS). In recognition of her work to support the U.S. research enterprise, Adriana received the inaugural ARIS Emerging Broader Impacts Leader Award, the Sigma Xi Mantel Next Generation Women’s Leadership Award, and the Top 20 in 2022 Award For Excellence in Advocacy from The Advocacy Association. Adriana earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Cell and Developmental Biology from Emory University.

Moraima Castro-Faix, Ph.D. is a Research Associate in the Bankston Lab. She obtained her Ph.D. from the Learning Cognition and Development department at the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University. She also holds an M.A. from Rutgers University in Science Education and a B.S. in Genetics from the University of Puerto Rico. During her dissertation research, she studied a learning progression in genetics at the middle school and high school level and has been involved in the design, implementation, and revision of a genetics curriculum for grades 7-12.  Work from these studies has been published in several top-tier journals in science education. Her interests are science education, science policy, and identifying the best practices for the development of the scientific workforce. Recently she participated in the National Center of Educational Statistics data institute at The American Institute for Research in which she studied the relationship between major changes and retention of at-risk students in STEM fields.

Crystal Hammond, B.A. is an advocate for higher education. As a Research Associate in the Bankston Lab, Crystal’s passion lies in addressing the pressing issues of educational policy, equity, and social justice. Previously, Crystal served as a research fellow at the Southern California College Attainment Network and interned at the University of California, Office of the President in Federal Government Relations. Her dedication to fostering positive change in education led her to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy from the University of California, Riverside. 

JP Flores (he/him) is a PhD Candidate in Bioinformatics & Computational Biology at UNC Chapel Hill studying the role of 3D chromatin structure in response to environmental stress and pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Innovation for the Public Good. He is the host of the From where does it STEM? podcast, senior editor for GeneBites, and recently completed a 6-month internship in the NIH Office of Science Policy in the NIH Office of the Director. He is an HHMI Gilliam Fellow passionate about bridging science and society and empowering others, especially those from minoritized and marginalized backgrounds.

In September 2023, The Bankston Lab joined Tomorrow’s Workforce Coalition on behalf of SAi. The Coalition advocates for beneficial workforce development policies that strengthen our economy, seeks to secure Senate and House cosponsors, and to advocate for the passage of the Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act. The Bankston Lab joined the Coalition and endorsed the sign-on letter for the legislation to advance in Congress. Read more.

SAi Senior Resident and Biomedical Workforce & Policy Research Investigator Dr. Adriana Bankston was recently selected as one of the 2022 Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS) Fellows. The ARIS fellows program is designed for professionals, researchers, faculty, educators, graduate students and others working to advance research impact practice. The 2022 class consists of 13 fellows who are working on diverse projects to synthesize existing scholarly work and develop new scholarship to advance knowledge about research impact practices. Read more.

SAi Resident Scholar Adriana Bankston has been appointed Senior Fellow in Civic Science & Public Policy with Sigma Xi in partnership with the Rita Allen Foundation. Bankston is a highly respected scholar passionate about developing the next-generation STEM workforce and advocating for the research enterprise. Read more.

Amy Ralston, B.S. was a Research Associate in the Bankston Lab. She is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at UC Irvine, holds an M.S. in Physics from UC Irvine, a dual B.S. in Physics and Astrophysics from University of Massachusetts Amherst, and an A.A. from Bard College at Simon’s Rock. Her research uses Hubble Space Telescope images and hydrodynamic simulations to reveal the mechanisms of star formation within the dense nodes of the Cosmic Web. Besides her academic work, Amy is passionate about employing techniques to approachably visualize and communicate data to drive evidence-based policy in the realms of space policy, science education, and climate change. At UC Irvine, she serves as the Vice President of the Science Policy and Advocacy Network, a National Science Policy Network Chapter.

Gwendolyn Bogard, B.S. was a Research Associate in the Bankston Lab. She is a Government Relations Associate with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Office of Government Relations. Prior to joining AAAS, Gwendolyn worked in policy and communications at Research!America and interned with the House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Gwendolyn earned her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Southern Oregon University.