Date/Time
Date(s) - 06/08/23
9:00 am
Categories
Israel Interest Group: Bridge Building in the Sciences
Please join us on Thursday, June 8 at 9 am PST/ 12 pm EST for our second conversation on Bridge Building. Learn about the innovative work of STEP (Science Training Encouraging Peace), connect with fellow Fulbrighters, and share ideas. Our discussion will be led by STEP co-founders Dr. Allen Taylor (Tufts) and Kim Kronenberg, MPH (Boston University) along with STEP alumnae Dr. Aya Awad (Stanford) and Dr. Pe’era Pash (Harvard).
Please register here.
Dr. Allen Taylor has directed the Laboratories for Nutrition and Vision Research at Tufts University for over 40 years. His work on discovering ways to keep eyes functioning longer has engendered many professional awards. He became deeply involved in Israeli societal issues during his year as a senior Fulbright Scholar. He grew to love the region and its people while at the same time decrying the cultures and politics that forced Israelis and Palestinians to view each other as enemies. He speculated that we can use science as a tool to bring Israelis and Palestinians together and conceived of a novel way to do that. Over the next few years, Dr. Taylor and his wife, Kim Kronenberg, a public health professional, created Science Training Encouraging Peace-Graduate Training Program, or simply STEP.
STEP (http://step-gtp.org/) is a nonprofit organization that funds stipends of pairs of Palestinians (from the West Bank or Gaza) and Israelis in intensive, graduate (usually PhD), academic programs in the sciences (in Israel). There is one Israeli, one Palestinian per pair. By working on a project together, throughout their graduate studies, STEP Fellows foster enduring relationships of respect, trust, and professional interdependence. Now in its 9th year, STEP has funded 38 Fellows of whom 17 have completed their studies, with the rest in the pipeline. STEP fellows have published over 60 papers and received 17 major awards.
