Vanderbilt SACNAS Contacts

Beth Bowman, PhD
Assistant Director, Biomedical PhD Programs

Dr. Beth Bowman is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Research, Education, and Training at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Bowman went to Belmont University for undergrad and got her research start at Vanderbilt University as an undergraduate. She graduated from Emory University with her PhD in Biochemistry, Cell, and Developmental Biology. She did a postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University before joining Vanderbilt in her current role. In this role she is the Assistant Director of the Biomedical Umbrella PhD Programs (Interdisciplinary Graduate Program and Quantitative and Chemical Biology) and co-Director of the Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy. Here, she directs admissions and recruitment, teaches students in the first year, mentors students throughout their graduate career, and develops programming that will enhance their education. Her passion is to help bourgeoning scientists on their path through guidance and mentoring. When not busy with her three young kids, Beth enjoys spending time with her friends and identical twin sister who graduated through the Vanderbilt IGP program.

elizabeth.a.bowman@vanderbilt.edu
Interdisciplinary Graduate Program
Quantitative and Chemical Biology Program
Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy
Admissions Blog, Materials and Methods
Twitter (@BiomedVandy)

Christina Keeton, PhD
Assistant Director, Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity

Dr. Christina Keeton is Assistant Director of the Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) and co-Director of the Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy programs. Dr. Keeton is originally from Syracuse, New York and earned her bachelor’s in biochemistry at Syracuse University. She earned her Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in the Biochemistry Graduate Program. As Assistant Director of IMSD, Dr. Keeton guides and advocates for equity, diversity and inclusion within our biomedical graduate programs. Through the IMSD program, she creates a community of support and success for graduate students that are historically underrepresented in STEM. Dr. Keeton enjoys mentoring students and is driven to ensure that Vanderbilt biomedical programs support, develop and cultivate scientists and leaders. In her free time, she enjoys reading, beading, gardening and spending time with family.

christina.k.keeton@vanderbilt.edu
Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity
Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy
Instagram (@vanderbilt_imsd)

Megan Williams, PhD
Assistant Director, Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP or MD-PhD Program)

Dr. Megan Williams is Assistant Director of the MSTP and Instructor in Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Williams is originally from Bismarck, North Dakota, went to the University of North Dakota for undergraduate training, and earned her PhD in 2015 from the Neuroscience Graduate Program at Vanderbilt. Dr. Williams directs the recruitment and admissions process, leads program communications, and outreach for the MSTP. Dr. Williams also serves as the founding Director of the MSTP Summer Undergraduate Research Program and co-leads the Vanderbilt MSTPs new Diversity, Belonging and Inclusion Council. She is passionate about mentoring students and helping them reach their goals. In her free time, she enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with her husband and cat.

megan.williams@vanderbilt.edu
Medical Scientist Training Program
MSTP Summer Undergraduate Research Program
Twitter (@VanderbiltMSTP)
Facebook

Ivette Perez, PhD Student

Nick Petersen, MD-PhD Student 

Nick Petersen is an MD-PhD student currently in his second year of graduate school in Danny Winder’s lab in the Neuroscience Graduate Program at Vanderbilt. Nick is originally from Brazil, but grew up in Davie, Florida. He received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University in 2015 where he studied Neurobiology & Behavior with a minor in Fine Arts. Before joining the MSTP in 2017, he worked as a lab technician in the Kaplitt Lab at Weill Cornell Medical College. Nick’s broad research interests involve addiction-related affective and sleep dysfunctions and his current project studies noradrenergic modulation and neuron-astrocyte interactions of wake-promoting ventral periaqueductal gray dopamine neurons in the context of acute and chronic ethanol. Clinically, Nick is interested in psychiatry and neurology. Nick is involved in the Vanderbilt MSTP as a College Advisory Board leader and APSA co-representative, and in his free time he enjoys gardening, cooking, and spending time with his partner, Josh, and dog, Luna.
Nicholas.petersen@vanderbilt.edu