ARBCMS 2025 and San Antonio Adventures

This November, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the 2025 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS) in San Antonio, Texas. It is a conference that has historically been committed to uplifting marginalized students to ameliorate inequity in STEM and promote a diverse, interdisciplinary cohort of future scientists.

ABRCMS has been my favorite conference experience so far! Seeing the breadth of incredible science in all fields of biological science left me feeling more excited about being part of the scientific community. My favorite presentation was, of course, my friend Ariel’s talk on actin motility in the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. Watching her up on the stage filled me with so much pride, and a bit of nostalgia—I couldn’t help but think of when we joined UBRP together after our freshman year. We have grown so much as researchers, and people, since then.
I presented the research I conducted this summer in Dr. Lilach Sheiner’s lab in Glasgow, Scotland titled “Characterizing the role of the subunit ATPTG14 in mitochondrial function in Toxoplasma gondii,” which won an ABRCMS Presentation Award in the Microbiology category. This work was supported by Biology Research Abroad: Vistas Open! (BRAVO!) program. I am deeply thankful to the BRAVO! donors for funding my research and the Sheiner lab for taking me in for the summer!

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Another exciting part about ABRCMS are the tabling sessions, where conference attendees are able to chat with representatives from various universities and scientific organizations. This was particularly valuable for me because I am applying to PhD programs this cycle, so getting to talk to graduate students, faculty, and members of the admissions committees helped me finalize my applications and network with (potentially) future colleagues. Workshops on navigating mentoring relationships and maintaining a good work-life balance were also useful, especially since these “softer” skills are not often taught explicitly in the classroom. 

Whether ABRCMS was going to continue this year was uncertain at first. In the current climate, there is backlash against efforts to eliminate disparities faced by minoritized students, and against even acknowledging the fact that minoritized students exist. However, this means that it is more important than ever for spaces like ABRCMS to exist. Even with the initial uncertainty and funding cuts, the turnout to ABRCMS this year—around 4000 attendees—is evidence that people do care about diversity in science, even as efforts to defund events such as these sweep the country. 

Lastly, the conference was located in the beautiful city of San Antonio, which was so much fun to explore! I ate delicious Tex-Mex food every day, went to an escape room with some friends, and took a boat ride down the Riverwalk at night (which is stunning at all times, but especially so at night when it is lit up). Attending conferences like ABRCMS is why I love being in the research community—I have opportunities to travel to new cities, connect with wonderful people, and learn more about science. I am grateful to the UBRP travel grant for funding this experience!