Jamil B. Scott, Ph.D.,
A Researcher at the Center for Community-Based Research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a Harvard Medical School affiliated cancer center
Dr. Jamil B. Scott is the only African American female to receive her doctorate of philosophy in 2007- 2008 in cell and developmental biology in the Division of Medical Sciences at Harvard Medical School, a program which is a part of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her dissertation research focused on questions of early embryo development and organ specification and resulted in the design of two innovative experimental systems for investigating the tissue interactions and molecular factors involved in the specification of the indifferent gonad in the avian embryo. She has presented this research at both national and international scientific conferences.
Dr. Scott received several fellowships to fund her graduate studies, including the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, the National Research Service Award Pre-doctoral Fellowship from the National Institutes of Health, and the Biomedical Science Careers Program Hope Award from Harvard Medical School. During her tenure at Harvard she has been very active in the Harvard biomedical community serving as the co-chair of the Minority Biomedical Scientists of Harvard, the committee chair for the Biomedical Science Careers Program Abstract and Poster Presentations Workshop, and a member of the planning committees for the New England Science Symposium and Network of Minority Research Investigators.
Dr. Scott is currently pursuing her passions in public health as a researcher at the Center for Community-Based Research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a Harvard Medical School affiliated cancer center. There she works in cancer prevention and control and is contributing to a study focused on defining the optimal dose of vitamin D supplementation for vitamin D in African Americans.
Dr. Scott will continue her training in public health in her recent appointment as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. Her current goal is to continue to develop her skills to become a leading nutrition scientist researching important public health and disease prevention issues primarily affecting people of color. Her passion is to learn so that she can educate others in how to obtain and maintain optimal health and well-being.
Dr. Scott received her B.S. summa cum laude in 2000 in biology with a cell and molecular concentration from Tennessee State University, where she was fully funded through the Presidential Foundation Honors and Out-of-State Tuition Waiver Scholarships. She was also a member of the University Honors Program, Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, and the TSU Dance Experience ensemble. Her extensive research experience during her undergraduate career included summer research appointments at Michigan State University, the University of California San Francisco, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Dr. Scott is a 1996 graduate of Waverly High School, completing her studies with a 3.99 GPA. She served as class president her final two years, captain of the track and field team, and was class salutatorian, among many other accolades and distinctions.
Dr. Scott is a member of Trinity A.M.E. Church and has been a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Delta Tau Omega Chapter since 2003. She is the proud daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hugh and Gladys Scott.
