>> Hi, so let's get started because we have a lot going on today. So, Devon, there you are. Okay, just make sure you open your microphone on your video as well. So today we're going to start a little bit differently. We're going to have one of our graduate students a little bit of a presentation.

And this is Devin Swiner. So Devon is in Abraham's group and she's been leading a lot of initiatives related to diversity and inclusion. She's the co founder of Hash Blackandtem that has almost 5000 followers on Twitter. She's the leader of the OSU novice student chapter. And she was recently featured in CNE News, a nice article a couple of weeks ago because of her diversity efforts.

So what I wanted to do is to start off and I asked her to share with the faculty what she's been doing. But before we do that, as you can see, we have a lot of guests, including President Christina Johnson. So I'm going to turn over the meeting to her.


>> Well, thanks Claudia. And first of all, it's so nice to be part of this department meeting of the chemistry and biochemistry department. And so just thanks for letting me, I guess, Zoom bomb your meeting. Today I'm super, super excited to recognize someone very special on this call.

And research, innovation and entrepreneurship are central to our work across the campuses, particularly in the sciences and engineering of course. And we, as I understand, I'm a new buckeye, so I'm new at this. But there is an annual innovator of the year award series and they recognize three researchers at different stages in their careers who embody this pioneering spirit, if you will, of research, innovation and entrepreneurship.

So today I get the great pleasure of being able to congratulate Devin Swiner as this year's next generation innovator of the year. Yay, Devin.
>> Thank you.
>> Devin, through your research, you have established the first ever blood collection platform that can serve as a storage and analysis medium, I understand.

And this platform is capable of dry state room temperature storage for long periods of time. The material can be analyzed using a mass spectrometer and no additional sample preparation steps are required. The technology is currently being developed as a surveillance device in the form of a skin patch that collects sweat samples from cystic fibrosis patients.

Congratulations. And Devon, your discovery has had such far reaching clinical and research applications that could ultimately decrease hospital burdens and improve patient experiences and outcomes. This is the kind of innovative thinking with real world applications that's integral to a successful commercialization enterprise. And I'm so proud to celebrate this example of true success from one of our most talented students.

So congratulations, and I look forward to following your career and learning about your future achievements. And now I get to turn it over to Doctor Morley Stone, our senior vice president of research, to give a few brief comments. But Devin, congratulations.
>> Thank you so much.
>> Thank you, President Johnson.

And Devon, let me also add my congratulations to winning this year's award. So while Doctor Johnson focused on your innovations in the research space, I'd like to focus on how your efforts are improving the research landscape for the next generation of chemists here on campus and around the country and around the world.

And Claudia already touched on some of these. So you currently serve as president of Ohio State's chapter of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of black Chemists and chemical engineers. In this role, you're pursuing your passion of assisting black and other minority students and professionals and fully realizing their potential in academic, professional, and entrepreneurial pursuits in chemistry and chemical engineering.

Your support and advocacy for both graduate/undergraduate students is leaving behind a legacy that will continue to impact the next generation of chemists. Claudia also talked about some of the work that you've been doing on social media. You co founded the hashtag BlackandChem, along with several of your peers at other institutions across the country.

The social media campaign which ran in August, August 10 through 15, highlighted black chemists participating in sharing their research experiences and what it's been like. Talked about, Claudia mentioned how I was picked up in CNE News as a lifelong member of the American Chemical Society. I was honored to actually see the article here.

And in particular, one of the things that really struck me in that article Devon, where it talked about your experience as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh and feeling lost in the shuffle there. And I think in this particular quote in here is that you didn't even know graduate school was an option for me because I didn't have anybody to talk about it.

Those are the kind of experiences that we have to change. I can tell you that the Office of Research is committed to working with you and your colleagues to changing that. And we have another number of initiatives underway to begin addressing that. So when I read that quote of yours, and also this quote, I want to amplify black chemists everywhere always, so that black chemistry students can one day have the luxury of just being students.

That's a powerful statement and goal which we all want to be a part of. And again, thank you for your leadership on that. So for these reasons and many others, we're pleased to award you Devon, the 2020 next generation innovator of the year. I'm sorry I have to give it to you virtually, but we look forward to getting this hardware over to you in person.

Scott, would you like to say a few words?
>> Yes, I would. Thank you, Morley. Hi Devon, I'm Scott Osborne. I'm vice president for economic and corporate engagement at the university. It's a pleasure to meet you on this wonderful occasion. As a cosponsor of this award with Morley and the Office of Research, I add my sincere congratulations on behalf of the corporate engagement office.

While it is your accomplishments as an exemplary innovator that resulted in your selection as 2020 next generation innovator of the year. I think it's your work in diversity and inclusion and your commitment to provide a legacy for those who follow after you that just is the icing on the cake and just marks that you will be a fantastic next generation innovator of the year.

And Morley referred to your quote, I too was inspired by your interview in chemistry world. And I just love that you said, I wanna be a part of the new generation of chemists that do not forget about the ones coming after her. I wanna cultivate a strong sense of community based on support and celebration.

So this award marks another achievement in your legacy that will inspire those who come after you. So congratulations, I wish you continued success. Please let me know if I can help you in any way. So thank you Claudia for allowing us to have this time with your department.

I'll turn it back to you.
>> Sure. You're all very welcome. And Devon, congratulations. We are just so proud of you. You're exemplary graduate student with outstanding academic record, excellent and creative and innovative research and just a leader, national leader. So, congratulations. This is just wonderful. So I'm gonna turn it over to Devon in case she wants to say a few words.

I don't know if Susan wants to say something, a few words before that.
>> Can I have a minute? So as the former chair of this department, I've worked with Devon many a day in her leadership of Novasha. Congratulations, you are so absolutely deserving of this award. I want to remind everyone that through Devon's work and she basically started this hashtag black in chemistry this summer.

It started as regional, then move national, and then in the last month she was also part of Royal Society of Chemistry at the UK and brought that to international realm. And so my challenge to you Devon, in watching all that you've done, you are an incredible innovator. You have documented that now.

So this new award is now the documentation of your regional impact and innovation. We are looking forward to the national and international to come very soon.
>> I can work on that. I can work on that
>> So, congratulations, very, very nice.
>> So, yeah. Hi everybody, thank you all for coming.

I knew something was up because I saw my mom, and then I saw my friends, and I was like something is not right. So thank you all for being here. I'm just humbled to accept this award and all the things that I've been doing. So yes I have been busy, really busy.

We just had a black and chem meeting report published in nature chemistry today, like a couple hours ago actually, and we did a Q&A in nature chem, so that is fresh off the press. So you all could take a look at that soon. So that's awesome. So I get to tell people that I'm published in nature, so that's great.

I feel like that's like a chemist's dream to be in there, but yeah. So a lot of the work that everyone's been talking about that I've been up to has really just been about stem advocacy in some way, shape, or form. So like that's been mentioned. I'm the current chapter president of our Novasha chapter at Ohio Stat, and that has just been a joy to be a part of as far.

And I think Joy's on here too. So Joy is my current vice president, and a lot of the work we've been doing with Noviche has really just been to help increase recruitment and retention in the chemistry department. So I know I pick on Joy a lot because when she came, Sierra, who's also on this call, was the president at the time.

And we kind of just grabbed them immediately when they got here and kind of like brought them into the Novashe fold. And that's similar to how we're doing now currently. I really, really believe in accessibility. So my science being accessible, but also my advocacy being accessible. So Joy has come into the student office all the time like, we need to talk about something.

Okay, I have undergrads that pop into the student office as well. So I believe that like I've been talking about in a lot of the other pieces that I've mentioned, black and chem accessibility really is a barrier for a lot of students and trying to get rid of that barrier makes a huge difference.

Black and chem started as a tweet that I just kind of tweeted and then it kind of turned into this whole thing. So I jokingly tell people that I did a little thing this summer. But Black and Chem has been amazing for black chemists, visibility wise. It was great networking tool.

So like was mentioned, we have a really nice collaboration going on with the Royal Society chemistry and there was a piece I was featured in Australia. So Doctor Liesik, that does count. So published down under, but. So people from kind of all over the place have kind of picked up on this hashtag and have been trying to do and try to help champion black chemists, which is really the goal.

I really just set out to just be like, hey like we're here. But it was really just a hashtag that's being used to help recruit black chemists to various spaces. So awards, grad schools, postdoc positions, faculty positions, industry positions, to really just talking about well, what are the barriers for black people to pursue chemistry?

What does that look like? What can people do as black chemists to help other black chemists? What can people as our allies, what can they do to help bring us to these spaces where we historically haven't been awarded access? But yeah, that's really just been what's been great.

A lot of future collaborations coming along with black and chem. We have other events that we're doing throughout the year. Black and Chem is gonna be an annual thing which is great for us and anybody that wants to help keep making this something that's sustainable. But I feel like that's all I have Dr Turo.

Did I miss anything you wanted me to talk about?
>> No, this is wonderful.
>> Devin, you have a new moniker now. It's leader in innovation on top of leader in Black and chem. So congratulations.
>> Thank you.
>> Absolutely. Congratulations again. And Claudia, thanks for allowing us to Zoom bomb into your meeting.


>> Thank you. Thank you and congratulations to mom too.
>> Yes, congratulations.
>> Thank you.
>> And advisor too.
>> And doctor Bade, yes
>> On my screen. So I didn't ask her if you wanted to say anything Abraham, I'm sorry.
>> No, it's great. We're going to miss her.

She's preparing to graduate soon, so she's been great.
>> Wonderful.