A Proud Neuroscientist

June is Pride Month in the United States , a time to recognize past and present struggles and successes in the ongoing fight for civil rights, as well as to celebrate the accomplishments of LGBTQ+ individuals. Ben Barres is one such individual who not only changed his field of science, but helped make the STEM community a better place!

Ben Barres was a pioneering neurobiologist at Stanford University. His work on a type of brain cells called glia – the most numerous type of brain cell in development and disease –revolutionized our understanding of the brain. He was also an ardent campaigner for equal opportunity in science.

Barres was assigned female at birth, but never felt comfortable as a girl. At school, Barres repeatedly requested but was denied, access to courses in science and engineering. A summer science course without gender restrictions at Columbia University enabled him to pursue further studies in science, going on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Biology from MIT, an MD from Dartmouth Medical School, and a residency in neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine.

In 1997 he began to transition from Barbara to Ben, and in 2013 Barres became the first openly transgender member elected to the US National Academy of Sciences, an organization that includes many of the United States’ leading scientists.

Celebrating the Individual

July is Disability Pride Month, which was first established in 1990 when the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed, prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities. According to the Disability Community Resource Center (DCRC), Disability Pride is defined as accepting and honoring each person’s uniqueness and seeing it as a natural and beautiful part of human diversity. Disability Pride is an integral part of movement building and a direct challenge of systemic ableism and stigmatizing definitions of disability.

British Paralympic athlete and surgeon John McFall will join the European Space Agency’s (ESA) latest cohort of space travel candidates as the world’s first “parastronaut.”

McFall, had his right leg amputated after a motorcycle crash when he was 19 years old.

Following his recovery, he became a professional track and field athlete competing and medaling in multiple Paralympics. Along the way, he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in medicine, then went on to medical school, and is now a trauma and orthopedic surgeon and member of the Royal College of Surgeons.

Last year, John was selected out of 257 applicants to take part in the European Space Agency’s Parastronaut Feasibility Project. While the selection of McFall does not guarantee that he will get to fly, this is a huge step forward considering that people with physical disabilities were previously unable to apply for space travel. Through this program, and with the aid of John McFall, the ESA aims to improve their understanding of, and overcome, the barriers space flight presents for astronauts with disabilities.