Program overview
Blanton Tolbert, PhD, presents the Spring 2024 Penn State College of Medicine Dean's Lecture.
Credit
CME credit is available for those who attended live.
Penn State College of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. Penn State College of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™.
Learning objectives
- RNA viruses represent untapped opportunities to engage the broader community in science that benefits all of humanity.
- The advancement of scientific discoveries requires input from perspectives traditionally marginalized regardless of demographic identity.
- Science should be more accessible to inspire the next generation of scientific leaders.
Blanton Tolbert, PhD
Vice President of Science Leadership and Culture
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics
University of Pennsylvania
In 2022, Dr. Blanton Tolbert became the inaugural vice president of science leadership and culture at Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), where develops and leads the new Center for the Advancement of Science Leadership and Culture. The mission of the Center is to intentionally integrate equity and inclusion into research culture. In this role, Dr. Tolbert directs a portfolio of current and new programs at the undergraduate and graduate level, an initiative to better equip HHMI scientists to provide culturally aware mentorship, a curriculum to grow scientists’ skills to maintain inclusive environments, and activities to develop strategic equity-centered initiatives and partnerships.
In July 2023, Dr. Tolbert became a Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at University of Pennsylvania. Prior to this position, he was the Rudolph and Susan Rense Professor of Chemistry at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). The research in the Tolbert group focuses on the biochemical mechanisms by which RNA viruses replicate within the cellular environment. His group leverages their fundamental understanding of the molecular biology of these viruses to identify novel targets for therapeutic intervention. The team has collaborated with colleagues to develop compounds with the potential to delay or halt the replication of SARS-CoV-2 and EV-A71. He will maintain his lab while serving as HHMI’s vice president of science leadership and culture.
Prior to joining HHMI, Dr. Tolbert served as the inaugural vice dean of diversity, equity and inclusive excellence for Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and as Case Comprehensive Cancer Center’s first associate director for diversity, equity, and inclusion. During his tenure, Dr. Tolbert developed initiatives to recruit individuals from backgrounds currently underrepresented in science into tenure-track faculty positions and to improve the experiences of faculty, staff and students.
Throughout his professional career, Dr. Tolbert has consistently maintained a commitment to educating, training and developing future scientific leaders. He believes in creating inclusive learning environments with an emphasis on encouraging students to develop critical thinking skills to comprehend foundational concepts. He has mentored dozens of trainees at all career stages ranging from high school through to postdoctoral fellows, with several being supported by diversity supplements and training grants. His trainees have gone on to PhD, MD/PhD programs, to become postdoctoral fellows, and they have accepted both academic and industrial positions.
Dr. Tolbert has also served as the principal investigator (PI) of a National Science Foundation-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates program in chemistry. He was the co-PI and co-developer of the Interdisciplinary Research at the Interface of Health Science and the Environment research experience for undergraduates program. This program supported 10 underrepresented students from the inner city of Cleveland (Emerging Scholars) and New Orleans (Posse Program) in two, five-week laboratory rotations spanning biomedical and environmental research. He was the acting Chairperson of the National Institutes of Health Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council (OARAC) from 2018 to 2023. He chaired the OARAC Strategies to Support, Retain, and Expand the Pool of Early-Stage HIV Investigators panel discussion on May 5, 2021.
Dr. Tolbert earned a bachelor of science in chemistry at the University of South Carolina and a PhD in biophysics and structural biology at the University of Rochester. He was an HHMI postdoctoral fellow at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, with HHMI investigator Michael Summers. In 2016, Dr. Tolbert received the inaugural Morton L. Mandel Award for Excellence in Research and Service from the CWRU chemistry department. In 2023, he was recognized by the International Society for Antiviral Research with the Diversity in Science and Excellence Award.