Nikea Pittman, PhD
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nikeapittman.bsky.social
Nikea Pittman, PhD
@nikeapittman.bsky.social
3K followers 290 following 23 posts
Teaching Assistant Professor, UNC Chapel Hill. I teach biochemistry/study how to help learners in STEM. I'm mostly here to talk STEM higher ed & inclusion. My crew: #BlackInMicro @blackinmicro.bsky.social
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nikeapittman.bsky.social
Nikea Pittman, PhD @nikeapittman.bsky.social · Nov 12
Pittman Teaching lab has a website! I’m excited to use it as a tool for staff, faculty & trainees (👀 our Resources page)…to show 1 example of what “life as a teaching faculty” looks like 🤗…at least for this 1st-gen Black PhD in biomed 🔬 med.unc.edu/biochem/pitt...
Pittman Teaching Lab
med.unc.edu
Reposted by Nikea Pittman, PhD
blackinmicro.bsky.social
You heard it here first: Registration is ⚡️NOW LIVE ⚡️ #BlackInMicro Week 2025

Register today! Visit linktr.ee/BlackInMicro or See linktree in bio. #BlackInVirology #BlackInMycology #BlackInMicrobiome #BlackInParasitology #BlackInBacteriology
The summarised schedule of Black in Micro Week 2025, October 14-16. All times are in Eastern Standard Time. Mon 14: Pathways for Change. Welcome and Keynote Address 12pm. Marian Johnson-Thompson, PhD. Panel Discussion: Finding Black Spaces in STEM, 1:15-2:15 PM. Weds 15, Careers & Research: ECR Symposium 9-12 PM. Panel discussion: Navigating Careers in Microbiology 2-3 PM. Thurs 16, Community: Panel Discussion - Empowering Your Science 12-1:15 PM. Workshop: Science in Action
August 27, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Reposted by Nikea Pittman, PhD
melodyschreiber.com
Once they're in the database, their DNA can be used for any criminal investigation
wired.com WIRED @wired.com · Jul 16
NEW: The US government has added the DNA of approximately 133,000 migrant children and teens to a criminal database, which critics say could mean police treat them like suspects “indefinitely.”
DHS Faces New Pressure Over DNA Taken From Immigrant Children
The US government has added the DNA of approximately 133,000 migrant children and teens to a criminal database, which critics say could mean police treat them like suspects “indefinitely.”
www.wired.com
July 16, 2025 at 5:35 PM
nikeapittman.bsky.social
I couldn't be more excited to see this year's presenters. One of the coolest parts of meeting online is that you'll get to share your work in front of a global audience - #BlackInMicro don't miss your chance to submit an abstract :)
blackinmicro.bsky.social Black Microbiologists Assoc (Black In Micro) @blackinmicro.bsky.social · Jul 8
🚨📆⏰ EXTENDED DEADLINE 🧬🦠🧫
Still working on some cool data? No sweat! The ECR symposium abstract call has been extended by TWO WEEKS! 🤩
Submit your abstract at tinyurl.com/BIM-abst... by July 22, 11.59PM EST! #BiM2025 #BlackInMicrobiology #EarlyCareerResearch
July 16, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by Nikea Pittman, PhD
copperbae.bsky.social
Does anyone have an example of a successful F31 under the new format?
July 16, 2025 at 4:30 PM
nikeapittman.bsky.social
SABER's annual conference was filled with many new great connections, plus finding time w/ Angeline Dukes of #BlackInNeuro. After celebrating Justin Shaffer’s 📕 launch…I came home to find his new book 👀 on my doorstep! Now time to reflect on lessons learned. See everyone at the next SABER
Book cover for High Structure Course Design by Justin Shaffer Drs. Craig Smith and Nikea Pittman take a selfie outside Dana Lim, Dr. Madhvi Venkatesh and Dr. Nikea Pittman (who wears a mask) standing inside a campus building and smiling Drs. Angeline Dukes and Nikea Pittman take a selfie inside a campus building
July 16, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Nikea Pittman, PhD
needhibhalla.bsky.social
"Women are PIs on 58% of the canceled grants, although they are PIs on only 34% of all active NSF grants.

Similarly, Blacks are PIs on 17% of the terminated grants, although they make only 4% of the total pool. Hispanic PIs and those with disabilities were twice as likely to lose a grant."
davidmalakoff.bsky.social David Malakoff @davidmalakoff.bsky.social · May 13
Another scoop from Jeff Mervis (@policyhound.bsky.social): NSF's ~1400 grant terminations have disproportionately affected PIs from groups underrepresented in science: women, racial & ethnic minorities, & those with disabilities. 1/3
www.science.org/content/arti...
Trump officials take steps toward a radically different NSF
Efforts to shrink staff, budget, and focus have alarmed members of Congress
www.science.org
May 13, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Reposted by Nikea Pittman, PhD
queenofthesouth.bsky.social
My daughter’s speech therapist went out of business because Medicaid reimbursement rates were too low. We do not have Medicaid. I’m going to keep posting this until people understand that when Medicaid gets cut *everyone* loses services.
May 12, 2025 at 4:18 PM
nikeapittman.bsky.social
October is about to be my new fav 🥹.
Let’s go!! #BlackInMicro
blackinmicro.bsky.social Black Microbiologists Assoc (Black In Micro) @blackinmicro.bsky.social · May 13
Ahem (clears throat). We are pleased to announce:

✨ 🧑🏾‍🔬 Black In Micro Week Returns 🦠
Get ready for October 2025!! Stay tuned for *abstract* submissions and full *program* info released this summer. COMING SOON.

We're Baaaaaack #BlackInMicro #BiM2025 #BlackInMicrobiology
An announcement graphic with a repeating blue black and yellow heaxagonal pattern that fades into white in the middle. The BMA logo appears in the middle, underneath which text reads "Save the Date, Black in Micro Week, October 14-16 2025"
May 13, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by Nikea Pittman, PhD
blackinmicro.bsky.social
Happy Giving Tuesday! ⭐ Join us in supporting @blackinmicro’s mission by donating here: blackinmicrobiology..... Your generosity makes a difference! Thank you!
Donate to the Black Microbiologists Association
Donate to the Black Microbiologists Association
blackinmicrobiology.org
December 2, 2024 at 3:22 PM
Reposted by Nikea Pittman, PhD
official-bweems.bsky.social
Hi Bluesky! We are BWEEMS, Black Women in Ecology, Evolution and Marine Science. A non-profit dedicated to amplifying and supporting Black women in EEMS spaces! It's nice to be here! 🐟 🪴 🐊

www.bweems.org
Black Women in Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Science
BWEEMS is a global network of Black Women driving innovation in ecology, evolution, and marine science despite being historically overlooked and isolated in the field.
www.bweems.org
November 25, 2024 at 1:39 PM
Reposted by Nikea Pittman, PhD
blackinmicro.bsky.social
Introducing our last #BlackInMicro Rising Star of 2024: Savannah Lewis! Savannah is a PhD Candidate at Stanford University’s School of Medicine, where she focuses on how natural killer cells adapt due to endemic malaria exposure, demonstrating their protective role against
1/4
Black background and gold stars, with title "BMA Rising Star November" and featuring Savannah Lewis in a photo where she has hair in a curly afro style and is wearing a pink shirt, smiling into the camera, with the sea in her background. Details of what projects she is working on and her achievements to the right (this text is included in the threaded post)
November 25, 2024 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Nikea Pittman, PhD
shematologist.medsky.social
US preterm birth rate was 10.4% in 2023 w significant racial disparities, receiving a D+ from @marchofdimes.bsky.social for the 3rd straight yr.

Many challenges are secondary to maternal care deserts which will only worsen as ob/gyns leave states without reproductive freedom.
November 14, 2024 at 8:35 PM
Reposted by Nikea Pittman, PhD
shematologist.medsky.social
Vaccination saves lives. Period.
Graph demonstrating rates of vaccine preventable illness decreasing over time
November 14, 2024 at 10:03 PM
Reposted by Nikea Pittman, PhD
minamarkh.am
I made a Black women in tech starter pack because I couldn’t find one and it annoyed me.

go.bsky.app/5upv7SQ
November 13, 2024 at 9:25 PM
nikeapittman.bsky.social
Hi bluesky! I joined a few months ago but couldn’t figure out how things work 😂…back to try again & it already feels more fun
November 13, 2024 at 11:00 PM
nikeapittman.bsky.social
Getting ready for tomorrow
napaaqtuk.bsky.social Dr. Kat Napaaqtuk❄️ @napaaqtuk.bsky.social · Nov 7
Yesterday was for mourning. Today is for planning. Tomorrow is for fighting.
November 13, 2024 at 2:12 AM
Reposted by Nikea Pittman, PhD
counterintuitive.bsky.social
hi hi it's me Laurel - Have a free printable science zine! WHY WE MASK: IT'S NOT JUST A COLD, aka A Handy Scientific Guide To Surviving COVID-19 Together. Feel free to spread it far - wide hit me up if you're interested in printing &/or distributing free copies :D Links below! #CovidIsntOver
COVER: In the foreground, a black person busses dishes while giving side-eye to two white adults talking as one of their kids sneezes. We see the air flow out and billow around them, splashing on a listening face and forming a miasma that fills the rest of the background. The busser has a button that says “service with a smile” even as their mouth is covered by a k100 mask. In large hand drawn lettering at the top of the page, the words “WHY WE MASK: IT’S NOT” sit on a black background. And then out in the miasma and in quote marks it says “JUST A COLD”. In the bottom right, it says “Laurel Lynn Leake” above a large “2024”. Surrounded by drawings of COVID-19 particles of various sizes, it says “THE BASICS: COVID-19 is a viral illness caused by SARS-CoV-2, and primarily spreads through the air.” The first endnote appears, signified here as e1. It continues “A single infection - even a “mild” one - can severely damage nearly every organ system in your body. Each additional infection risks further harm to your immune system, lungs, heart, brain, guts, and reproductive organs, and can result in permanent disability or death. e2 About 75% of all adults e3 (and at least 30% of children e4) are at a high risk of developing severe SARS-COV-2. If you’ve ever had COVID-19, EVEN ONCE, you are now high risk.” It then says “THE VIRUS:” and shows “SARS- COV- 2” separated into it’s three parts. A bubble connected to SARS says “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome”. A bubble connected to COV says “Corona Virus (crown-shaped, round with spikes)”. And the bubble connected to 2 says “similar to 2002-2003 SARS-CoV outbreak”. Large hand-drawn text reads “COVID-19 is an AIRBORNE ILLNESS e5” over that same curly haired character from the last page sneezing with a big “KACHOO!” We see a large billow of mist and droplets. A measurement in meters is below, showing larger droplets dropping in the first couple meters and the more misty particles continuing to 6 meters. In a box below, text reads “It spreads when infected people exhale, cough, or sneeze plumes of tiny RESPIRATORY PARTICLES. You can shed hundreds of viruses in a single minute, just by breathing. e6 And sneezing can send viral gunk flying up to 6m (20ft)! Once they’re in the air, the tiniest RPs can linger in poorly ventilated spaces for HOURS...invisible to the naked eye. e7,e8” A bubble points at a big blob in a loose ring of different sized circular drops: “DROPLETS...are barely visible globs of fluid that drift to the ground.” A smaller circle is labled: “AEROSOLS...are microscopic blobs, so light they float.” Large text reads “What’s inside a respiratory particle?” next to a cute Laurel looking through a magnifying glass. Arrows point out a small “SARS-COV-2” & little squiggles of “mucus”. The particle grows even larger to show the spiked SARS-COV-2, as well as dots of “dust” & translucent blobs of “lung fluid”. Text to the side reads “RPs are made up of lung fluids, mucus, & saliva, as well as contaminants like dust, bacteria, & viruses. e9 When a COVID-19 contagious person exhales, they send out lungfuls of SARS-CoV-2, hidden inside aerosols & droplets. e10 Aerodynamic aerosols carry the highest dose of viruses and are the most dangerous to inhale. e11 The particles protect their passengers as they fly through the air, ready to be inhaled by someone new.
September 6, 2024 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by Nikea Pittman, PhD
counterintuitive.bsky.social
Wearing a damn mask is one of the immediate ways you can help the most marginalized people in your communities survive. Mask at the store, the doctor, school, work, outdoor crowds, everywhere it's not explicitly prohibited. Leverage whatever privilege you have to keep masking.
counterintuitive.bsky.social Kimball and Laurel @counterintuitive.bsky.social · Sep 6
hi hi it's me Laurel - Have a free printable science zine! WHY WE MASK: IT'S NOT JUST A COLD, aka A Handy Scientific Guide To Surviving COVID-19 Together. Feel free to spread it far - wide hit me up if you're interested in printing &/or distributing free copies :D Links below! #CovidIsntOver
COVER: In the foreground, a black person busses dishes while giving side-eye to two white adults talking as one of their kids sneezes. We see the air flow out and billow around them, splashing on a listening face and forming a miasma that fills the rest of the background. The busser has a button that says “service with a smile” even as their mouth is covered by a k100 mask. In large hand drawn lettering at the top of the page, the words “WHY WE MASK: IT’S NOT” sit on a black background. And then out in the miasma and in quote marks it says “JUST A COLD”. In the bottom right, it says “Laurel Lynn Leake” above a large “2024”. Surrounded by drawings of COVID-19 particles of various sizes, it says “THE BASICS: COVID-19 is a viral illness caused by SARS-CoV-2, and primarily spreads through the air.” The first endnote appears, signified here as e1. It continues “A single infection - even a “mild” one - can severely damage nearly every organ system in your body. Each additional infection risks further harm to your immune system, lungs, heart, brain, guts, and reproductive organs, and can result in permanent disability or death. e2 About 75% of all adults e3 (and at least 30% of children e4) are at a high risk of developing severe SARS-COV-2. If you’ve ever had COVID-19, EVEN ONCE, you are now high risk.” It then says “THE VIRUS:” and shows “SARS- COV- 2” separated into it’s three parts. A bubble connected to SARS says “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome”. A bubble connected to COV says “Corona Virus (crown-shaped, round with spikes)”. And the bubble connected to 2 says “similar to 2002-2003 SARS-CoV outbreak”. Large hand-drawn text reads “COVID-19 is an AIRBORNE ILLNESS e5” over that same curly haired character from the last page sneezing with a big “KACHOO!” We see a large billow of mist and droplets. A measurement in meters is below, showing larger droplets dropping in the first couple meters and the more misty particles continuing to 6 meters. In a box below, text reads “It spreads when infected people exhale, cough, or sneeze plumes of tiny RESPIRATORY PARTICLES. You can shed hundreds of viruses in a single minute, just by breathing. e6 And sneezing can send viral gunk flying up to 6m (20ft)! Once they’re in the air, the tiniest RPs can linger in poorly ventilated spaces for HOURS...invisible to the naked eye. e7,e8” A bubble points at a big blob in a loose ring of different sized circular drops: “DROPLETS...are barely visible globs of fluid that drift to the ground.” A smaller circle is labled: “AEROSOLS...are microscopic blobs, so light they float.” Large text reads “What’s inside a respiratory particle?” next to a cute Laurel looking through a magnifying glass. Arrows point out a small “SARS-COV-2” & little squiggles of “mucus”. The particle grows even larger to show the spiked SARS-COV-2, as well as dots of “dust” & translucent blobs of “lung fluid”. Text to the side reads “RPs are made up of lung fluids, mucus, & saliva, as well as contaminants like dust, bacteria, & viruses. e9 When a COVID-19 contagious person exhales, they send out lungfuls of SARS-CoV-2, hidden inside aerosols & droplets. e10 Aerodynamic aerosols carry the highest dose of viruses and are the most dangerous to inhale. e11 The particles protect their passengers as they fly through the air, ready to be inhaled by someone new.
November 7, 2024 at 3:40 AM
Reposted by Nikea Pittman, PhD
joelbabdor.bsky.social
Hi I am Joel, an Asst. Prof at Penn in the pharmacology department.
I study the dialogue between the microbiome and the immune system for the development of precision immunology and microbiome medicine
babdorlab.com

#Immunology
#Microbiome
#SystemsBiology
Home - Babdor Lab
Precision Immunology and Microbiome Medicine Laboratory.
babdorlab.com
November 12, 2024 at 5:16 PM
nikeapittman.bsky.social
Yesssss
drkozik.bsky.social Dr. Ari Kozik @drkozik.bsky.social · Nov 12
Here's a starter pack of Black Microbiologists. A work in progress as people are migrating over from other platforms. Let me know if you want to be added! go.bsky.app/EcYiqNV
November 13, 2024 at 2:03 AM
Reposted by Nikea Pittman, PhD
drsprggs.bsky.social
Hi Everyone!

I’m an assistant professor at UMich studying the relationship between viruses and cancer 🦠🧫🔬. I’m also a co-founder of #BlackInMicro and remain ever committed to creating inclusive spaces both in my lab and within the greater scientific community ✊🏽

It’s so nice over here 🤗🩵☁️
November 12, 2024 at 10:50 PM
Reposted by Nikea Pittman, PhD
aishaburton.bsky.social
Since we have had a big boom to bsky let me reintroduce myself.

I am Aisha Burton and a new PI at Cornell Micro. Currently on maternity leave but my two research techs are keeping the research going 🙏🏾. My lab is interested in studying small proteins and how they impact stress responses in bacteria
Burton lab in big black letters. DNA helix connects B of Burton and L of Lab. Between the two words there is smaller text that reads Large Roles Small proteins.
November 12, 2024 at 10:38 PM
nikeapittman.bsky.social
#AddToBlacksky
November 13, 2024 at 1:56 AM
nikeapittman.bsky.social
Truly humbled & honored. I am so proud of the work we’re doing through @blackinmicro.bsky.social especially in supporting early career grad students & postdocs. Thank you
Microbiology Society for the celebrating the value of this work!
blackinmicro.bsky.social Black Microbiologists Assoc (Black In Micro) @blackinmicro.bsky.social · Nov 8
Congratulations, @BlackInMicro for winning the 2025 @MicrobioSoc EDI award! We are truly honored and proud of this achievement. Learn more about our exceptional Award Winners at tinyurl.com/WinBMA and come celebrate with us! 🎉
November 12, 2024 at 2:01 AM