Full Circle Symposium Brings Together Native and Indigenous Scientists

On April 3-4, 2025, the School of Pharmacy hosted the third Full Circle of Native and Indigenous Scientists in Biology symposium, an event designed to create a space for Native and Indigenous scientists across the United States to share their research while providing them with professional development and community building opportunities.  

This year’s symposium included talks on host-microbe interactions, genetics and bioethics, nicotine metabolism, cancer biomarkers, and cell signaling pathways critical for artery development, among many other topics.  

Led by Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences Assistant Professor Willow Coyote-Maestas, PhD, MS, and presented by the school’s Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI), the long-term goal of the symposium is to increase the number of Native and Indigenous scientists in academia, and to build a thriving community for them at UCSF. 

Coyote-Maestas, who came to UCSF as a visiting graduate student in 2020, had been involved in outreach programs like Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) while completing his PhD at University of Minnesota, and was inspired to create an event that would help address the statistically disproportionate underrepresentation of Native and Indigenous scientists in STEM fields. 

“One of the challenges is that there are so few Native Americans in science in general that, for most students, they'll be the only Native American in their graduate program, or maybe even in all of the biomedical sciences at their university,” said Coyote-Maestas. 

Dynamic perspectives and conversation 

The symposium, which is open to all, featured presentations from students, postdocs, and faculty across career stages, to represent the “full circle” of basic science being led by Native Americans.  

In her opening remarks, Dean Kathy Giacomini, PhD, BSPharm, called the gathering “heartwarming,” and spoke to the urgency and importance of the group’s work in the context of high-risk factors faced by Native and Indigenous communities for cardiovascular disease and pancreatic cancer and high mortality rates from diabetes. 

“Against the backdrop of enormous social and health challenges, it is wonderful to see such dedicated scientists, researchers and advocates who are so committed to making a difference," she said. 

Coyote-Maestas said the panel discussions created especially dynamic conversation, adding that by bringing together different viewpoints, they build resilience in the community, as an alternative to feelings of powerlessness. 

"It's exciting to learn from someone in an area that's a lot more matured — with perspectives that are a little more codified or formalized — interacting with folks in areas that are emerging,” he said. 

Mentorship and community 

Reflecting on the growth of the symposium since its inception (one year it was held virtually due to the pandemic), Coyote-Maestas said that it has become not only a platform for scientific exchange but also a space where mentorship can flourish.

 “There hasn’t been a container like this before, with opportunities for peer mentorship,” Coyote-Maestas said, recalling feedback he received from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Associate Professor Lucas Martin Cheadle, PhD, who said he had never met another Native American faculty member before attending. “It’s really important to help foster that community and connection, where people can be themselves and sit in their identity in America, but also sit in their identity as a scientist, and share that together.” 

Compared to pipeline programs that draw people away from their communities, Coyote-Maestas said, the symposium allows him to leverage and share the resources and privilege he associates with UCSF in an intentional and meaningful way.   

“We're in a unique position here at UCSF, and it’s really important that this continues to happen and that we share what we have here with other institutions,” said Coyote-Maestas. “We can do incredible things together.”