Ben Barres was a trailblazing transgender neurobiologist who promoted equity & diversity.
His pioneering research on glial cells changed science & he became the 1st #trans person admitted into the National Academies of Science.
Barres was a strong advocate for women, early career scientists & the #LGBTQ+ community at a time when few people openly discussed gender identity. https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2017/12/28/mourning-ben-barres-the-transgender-scientist-who-changed-neuroscience/ #history #science
Excerpt from his autobiography: https://stanmed.stanford.edu/ben-barres-autobiography-transgender-scientist/
Mourning Ben Barres, The Transgender Scientist Who Changed Neuroscience
“Ben was a remarkable person. He will be remembered as a brilliant scientist who transformed our understanding of glial cells and as a tireless advocate who promoted equity and diversity at every turn,” said Marc Tessier-Lavigne, PhD, president of St…Matthew Herper (Forbes)
Dr. Nancy Wayne ✅
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum • • •One of the most striking examples of the impact of gender bias is from a story that Dr. Barres told in the journal Nature: “Shortly after I changed sex, a faculty member was heard to say “Ben Barres gave a great seminar today, but then his work is much better than his sister’s.” There was no sister. Ben and “the sister” were the same person. Gender bias would have made it much more difficult to be a respected scientist when Ben was formally known as Barbara.
https://www.nature.com/scitable/content/does-gender-matter-by-ben-a-barres-10602856/
Does Gender Matter? by Ben A Barres | Learn Science at Scitable
www.nature.com