Nina Dudnik
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Nina Dudnik | |
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| Education | Harvard University Brown University |
| Occupations | Director of Policy, MilliporeSIgma |
| Known for | Global development, science diplomacy, social entrepreneurship |
| Awards | John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award, TEDGlobal Fellow, Boston Business Journal Innovation All Star |
Nina Dudnik is an American social entrepreneur, science diplomacy advocate, and the Founder and former CEO of Seeding Labs, a US-based nonprofit organization investing in building scientific capacity in the developing world. Dudnik founded the organization in 2003 as a graduate student studying at Harvard University, where she received her PhD in molecular biology.
Dudnik received her Bachelor of Science in biochemistry from Brown University. Between college and graduate school, she worked in agricultural development as a consultant for CGIAR (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) in Italy, and then became a Fulbright scholar in Côte d'Ivoire.[1] After her year in Africa, she returned to the United States to attend Harvard University, where she received her PhD in molecular biology. She did her doctoral work in the laboratory of Dr. Kami Ahmad, where she ultimately published her dissertation, "Histone dimers on the move: Nucleosome assembly systems for H2A and H2AV in Drosophila."[2]
Global development work
Dudnik had personally felt the effects of lack of access to scientific resources in developing countries when doing her Fulbright work in Côte d'Ivoire, where she was working to breed better varieties of rice. There, she saw a gap between a wealth of scientific talent and a dearth of access to research equipment to put that talent to use.[3][4] When she returned to the United States to pursue her doctoral degree, she worked to bridge that gap. She led a group of fellow students in collecting surplus biological equipment and supplies at Harvard University to send to labs in developing countries to support the research they were doing at their local institutions.[5] This effort became the basis of Seeding Labs, which formally launched in 2007 when Dudnik was awarded the Echoing Green fellowship.[6] A year later, Seeding Labs was established as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in 2008.[7]
Dudnik and her team expanded Seeding Labs beyond equipment transfer, developing exchange programs to train scientists from developing countries in America.[8] She promoted the organization's vision as a TEDGlobal Fellow, a PopTech Social Innovation Fellow, and at the World Economic Forum.[9][10][1] They have received funding and support from a combination of government organizations like the United States Agency for International Development, academic institutions like Harvard University, and multinational corporations like Merck.[11][12]