Josephine McGowan, PhD
Awards and Research Support
2023
Career Development Institute
Career Development Institute for Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh
1 of 10 awards given in 2023 nationally.
2021
American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) Travel Award (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
Travel Award
2021
Grant Award
NIH Blueprint Diversity Specialized Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Advancement in Neuroscience (D-SPAN) (F99/K00) Award
2021
Symposium Speaker
University of Utah Rising Stars in Neuroscience Symposium Award (Virtual Symposium)
1 of 8 awards given in 2021 nationally.
2020
Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP) Travel Award (Virtual Conference)
Travel Award
2020
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Predoctoral F31 Fellowship
Grant Award
2019
New Investigator Award
American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology (ASCP) New Investigator Award (Scottsdale, AZ)
1 of 20 awards given in 2019 nationally; only graduate student to receive the award to date.
2018
Travel Award
Gordon Research Conference (GRC) Carl Storm Underrepresented Minority Travel Fellowship to the 2019 Metabolomics and Human Health Conference (Ventura, CA)
2017
International Fellowship
Chateaubriand Fellowship
Offered by the Embassy of France in the United States. It supports outstanding PhD students from U.S. institutions who wish to conduct part of their doctoral research in France for a period ranging from 4 to 8/9 months.
2017
Travel Award
European Behavioral Pharmacology Society (EBPS) Biennial Meeting Travel Award (Heraklion, Crete, Greece)
1 of 8 selected internationally.
2017
3rd Place at the 30th International Stress and Resilience Symposium (New York, NY)
Poster Award
2017
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP) Award
Grant Award
2017
Honorable Mention, Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship
Honorable Mention
2017
Alumnae Award
Alumnae Association of Barnard College Fellowship
Awarded to 1 Barnard alumna who shows exceptional promise in their field.
2017
Travel Award
Wisconsin Symposium on Emotion Travel Award
1 of 10 selected internationally.
2016
Scholars Program
Neuroscience Scholars Program (NSP) of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN)
1 of 16 awards given in 2016 nationally.
2016
Fellowship
Grace Potter Rice Fellowship
Awarded to Barnard seniors who show promise of distinction in the natural sciences.
2016
Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP)
Honorable Mention
2016
Summer Program for Underrepresented Students (SPURS) Fellowship at Columbia University
Undergraduate Research Fellowship
2016
Barnard Writing Center Fellowship Award Recipient
Writing Fellowship
2015
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) at Columbia University
Undergraduate Research Fellowship
2014
National Science Foundation (NSF) Barnard Noyce Teacher Scholars Program Summer Research Grant
Undergraduate Research Fellowship
2014
Barnard Student Government Association Leadership Award
Leadership Award
2012-2013
Howard Hughes Science Pipeline Project (HSPP) Research Apprenticeship Seminar
Research Apprenticeship
Selected Work Experience
Non-scientific Positions
01/2019-12/2021
Barnard College Writing Fellows Program
Graduate Science Writing Fellow
2016
Barnard Alumnae Reunion Weekend
Student Ambassador
09/2013-05/2016
Barnard College, Office of Residential Life and Housing
Resident Assistant
09/2014-05/2016
Barnard College Writing Fellows Program
Writing Fellow
09/2012-05/2014
Columbia Daily Spectator
News Production Associate Editor
Teaching
2020-2021
Components of an NIH NRSA, Columbia University
Teaching Assistant
2018-2021
Teaching Assistant
Psychology of Learning, Barnard College
Taught 1 class per semester on mechanisms of fear and anxiety.
2017-2021
Program Head
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)
Taught a weekly class on science communication during the summer. Approximately 10-15 students per year.
2017-2019
Crafting a Research Proposal, Columbia University
Teaching Assistant
2016
Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience Laboratory, Barnard College
Teaching Assistant
Invited Panels and Talks
2021
Symposium Speaker
Ventral hippocampal neural ensembles modulate (R,S)-ketamine’s prophylactic fear buffering effects. April 2021. Utah Rising Stars in Neuroscience Symposium, Virtual Conference. One of 8 selected speakers.
2019
Panelist
Panel at the New York Academy of Sciences for High School Students (New York, NY)
Spoke to high school students about careers in STEM for women and non-gender binary folks. Q&A followed.
2018
Panelist
Panel for Barnard College's 5th Annual Summer Science Research Institute (SSRI) Participants (New York, NY)
Spoke to Barnard College students about how to succeed in academia as a minority and/or a woman. Q&A followed.
2018
Invited Speaker
Ketamine as a prophylactic against stress-induced depressive-like behavior. February 2018. Pharmacology Master’s Students Class: “Drugs and other health products,” University Paris-Sud Faculty of Pharmacy, Châtenay-Malabry, France.
2018
Invited Speaker
Why a Women’s College? – The Impact of Promoting Women’s Leadership. March 2018. Political Science course: “Law and Gender,” Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po), Reims, France.
2017
Invited Speaker
Hippocampal GluN2B-containing NMDA receptors are critical for the antidepressant actions of ketamine. August 2017. European Behaavioral Pharmacology Society (EPBS), 17th Annual Meeting, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
Outreach
Volunteer Experiences and Community Education
2020-present
Co-Editor-in-Chief and Writer
Co-Editor-in-Chief and Writer for Scientist on the Subway (SciSub) Blog
Write and edit features on students from underrepresented backgrounds to tell their stories of growing up and getting into science. Written for a lay audience.
2019-present
Mentor
Mentor, Científico Latino's Graduate School Mentorship Initiative (GSMI) Program
GSMI's mission is to help underrepresented graduate school applicants by pairing them with STEM professionals in their respective STEM disciplines. We provided our applicants with graduate school preparation material, one-on-one guidance from a mentor in their STEM field, access to webinars, and mock interviews.
2019
Speaker
Invited Speaker, Eureka Program
Spoke to high school students about my personal journey through science, challenges, and advice.
2017
Volunteer Teacher
Teacher for Citizen Schools 10-week after-school Neuroscience 101 Program, Isaac Newton Middle School, East Harlem.
Since opportunity, unlike talent, is not equally distributed, Citizen Schools has provided hands-on learning experiences that ignite curiosity, build confidence, and expand horizons. Today, they engage students in hands-on learning with career mentors, sharing best practices from our direct service work with teachers and underserved communities to scale STEM mentorship and maker-centered learning.
2016-2021
Volunteer
Volunteer for Columbia University Neuroscience Outreach (CUNO) Program
Through CUNO, I hosted a Saturday Science event at the Harlem Expo which aims to incite curiosity in science through various hands-on brain-related activities. I have attended and organized Late Night Science events. I have also participated in the Annual NYC Brain Bee, which tests students’ knowledge about the human brain.
2013-2014
Coordinator
Teacher and Coordinator, Community Impact Leadership Program, Columbia University
Community Impact is the umbrella Community Service organization at Columbia overseeing 24 individual groups dealing with Community Education, Youth Programs, Homeless Assitance and Advocacy, and Jobs and Empowerment. The 900 student volunteers serve over 8000 people Columbia's surrounding neighborhoods. For more information please visit Community Impact's website.
A subset of Community Impact, the Community Impact Leadership Program (CILP) is an opportunity for freshman from CC, SEAS, and Barnard to become involved both in the greater leadership of Community Impact as well as a way to learn about being leaders on campus.
2012
Volunteer
Volunteer, Extended Barnard Outreach (EBRO)
Participated in semester-long volunteer program in the city.
2012
Volunteer
Volunteer, Columbia Urban Experience (CUE)
Pre-orientation program for community service-minded students matriculating into Barnard and Columbia. Volunteer for NYCCAH.
Patent
2018
Co-Inventor
Identification of biomarkers for efficacy of prophylactic treatments against stress-induced psychiatric disorders.