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Dr. Christopher Newman, focuses his research primarily on outcomes, inequities, and undergraduate student experiences in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). He has served as a consultant to the National Science Foundation’s Colloquy on Minority Males and has presented his work at the American Educational Research Association, the Association for the Study of Higher Education, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, among other national and international prestigious professional meetings. He is working on a project, in collaboration with the National Society of Black Physicists, focusing on African American workforce development in physics and astronomy. 

I am an Outreach Specialist focused on STEM and African American Outreach at Pasadena City College. I graduated from California State University, Los Angeles with my B.S. in Chemistry and worked as an environmental analyst and gained experience supporting a variety of companies from those developing components for aerospace, the food we eat every day, and the companies that built Sofi Stadium in DTLA. I have a strong passion for environmental justice & advocacy that inspires me to build networks of support and find ways to empower communities with STEM to address the issues dear to them. In that spirit of creativity and ingenuity that I believe is at the heart of STEM, I am developing a workshop for students with our campus Fab Lab to cultivate the skills to discover the power of STEM to improve their lives inside the classroom and beyond. 

I currently serve as Classified Senate Parliamentarian, proudly supporting events like PUSD Science Fest, STEM Savvy's Girl's Science Day, and the Young African American Male's Conference. Certifications: Qualified Industrial Stormwater Practitioner (QISP), 40 Hr HAZWOPER, Logistics.

Peter is the CEO of Santa Ana Bio, a precision immunology company.  In parallel Peter is also a Venture Partner with Versant Ventures. Prior to joining Versant, Peter served as the Global Head of Cell Therapy Research at Kite Pharma, a Gilead company. Previous roles include Chief Scientific Officer at Cell Design Labs Inc. (CDL), which was acquired by Gilead, and Vice President of Immune Mediated Therapy in the Oncology Innovative Medicines group at MedImmune. He has over 25 years of drug development experience in the fields of oncology, autoimmunity, infectious diseases and inflammation.

Peter holds a B.S. and M.S. in Molecular Biology and Genetics from the University of Guelph and received his Ph.D. in Molecular Virology, Immunology and Inflammation at McMaster University. At the beginning of his career, Peter did a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute and held roles at Aventis Pasteur and Harvard Medical School.

Stephanie Threatt, PhD is a well-trained and highly motivated research scientist with a passion for Chemical Biology. She attended Harvard College, where she graduated Cum Laude with a BA in Chemistry in 2014. She has aimed to further her knowledge related to chemistry and biochemistry by conducting research at various institutions, including UNC Charlotte, UCSF, Harvard University, and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).  She completed her doctoral degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics  in 2020 at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Her doctorate was completed with Professor Jacqueline Barton and focused on the development and execution of in vivo assessments of DNA-binding rhodium compounds that act as targeted chemotherapeutics. As a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Postdoctoral Scholar at Caltech, she employed computational chemistry techniques to study the chemical mechanism employed by the nitrogenase enzyme to convert atmospheric nitrogen into the bioavailable form of ammonia. Currently, Stephanie is a Formulation and Process Development research scientist at Gilead Sciences, where she works in a cross-functional capacity to advance the development of novel therapeutics through the use of biopharmaceutical, chemistry, and formulation science research techniques.