[mdphd] Please read- GR CANCELLED THIS WEEK - RESCHEDULED 9/18

[Andrea Cifonelli]

Good morning,

Joe’s presentation has been rescheduled to September 18th – therefore, GR is CANCELLED this week. See schedule: [?xlsx icon]  Grand Rounds Schedule 25-26.xlsx<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://upstate0-my.sharepoint.com/:x:/r/personal/cifonela_upstate_edu/_layouts/15/Doc.aspx?sourcedoc=*7B04436298-39FB-494F-A220-F40F2473FFD1*7D&file=Grand*20Rounds*20Schedule*2025-26.xlsx&action=default&mobileredirect=true__;JSUlJSU!!GobTDDpD7A!MNU0REw-2JN6yyke-tgWPn7Apz_C2PtkQaJ3O2KlxJXB8NKp6387L_ZNvM-ZEVAZRCTMz26BdnNxiBSEJKfLBatVPQ$ >

In the spirit of supporting each other, please take a moment understand Joe’s situation. The Supreme Court is allowing Trump to block DEI grants (again), and it appears Joe will be losing his funding again. He needs to refocus his efforts this week, and that is the reason for rescheduling GR for his presentation.

Please take a moment to read Joe’s message from last month’s newsletter here:

Earlier this year, I was devastated to learn that my F31-Diversity grant had been terminated as part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to dismantle federally supported diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. As a first-generation student and underrepresented minority in medicine and science, this felt deeply personal — a stark reminder of how political decisions can ripple down and threaten the very opportunities meant to level the playing field.

What followed was a period of uncertainty, frustration, and emotional fatigue. But I wasn’t alone. With the support of my mentors, the research office, and a strong community, I continued to advocate, and thanks to a federal court ruling that overturned the termination, my funding has now been fully reinstated.

This experience reinforced how crucial it is for us — especially those from marginalized backgrounds — to keep showing up, speaking out, and leaning on each other. We shouldn’t have to fight for the basic support others are granted without question, but when we do, we fight not just for ourselves — we fight for the next generation too.

Joe
Best,
Andrea

Andrea Cifonelli (she, her, hers)

Coordinator of Combined Programs and Special Initiatives
MD-PhD Program Coordinator
PREP-Up and SURF Program Coordinator
Postdoctoral Affairs Coordinator
College of Graduate Studies
Weiskotten Hall 3118
cifonela at upstate.edu<mailto:cifonela at upstate.edu>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.upstate.edu/pipermail/mdphd/attachments/20250825/ffbd32d6/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 973 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://lists.upstate.edu/pipermail/mdphd/attachments/20250825/ffbd32d6/attachment.png>