About

The Research Her is a science podcast with the perfect amount of research and relatability. The podcast highlights Black women scientists and researchers while exploring research relevant to well-being. By discussing relatable topics each week, we encourage lifestyle optimization. Each podcast episode is created to bring visibility to a new field of science, Black women doing it, and ways to work with ease.

The podcast is a trusted space that does not just provide information, but love and support for our listeners. We only seek collaboration, partnership, and sponsorship with companies who are actively working to improve humanity through service and outreach. The Research Her is special in that it has found a way of educating a collection of highly intelligent women in a way that makes them feel included and never intimidated.

Main Objectives

  • Discuss science related to Black women’s health with actionable steps to make lifestyle changes for well-being
  • Highlight Black women in science and research to encourage academic pursuits and diversity in all research fields
  • Discover avenues for research inclusion by highlighting initiatives to increase clinical research participation and teach ways to build trust with research participants

The Host, Dr. E

Highlighted by the American Chemical Society as a prominent African American Chemist, Elissia Franklin, Ph.D. (aka Dr. E) is a passionate scientist dedicated to uncovering science that everyone should know about. There is a gap in the amount of research that is being done for and by people of color versus those who are more represented. Dr. E decided to champion these topics and continue the much-needed dialogue. The Research Her is a podcast and platform devoted to communicating relatable and reliable topics relevant to communities of color.

A native of the Southside of Chicago, Dr. E grew up understanding that there are systemic disadvantages when you are black and a woman. As she has matriculated in the science community, she discovered just how deep into higher education and other professional environments the disadvantages run. With her passion for science, she is not afraid to blaze a trail and represent in a field where we need people to see themselves reflected. She is passionate about teaching anything she knows to anyone who wants to learn and believes that knowledge should be accessible to all.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was the start of Dr. E’s professional career. She graduated with honors from the Department of Chemistry with a Bachelor of Science. Throughout her 4 years in college, she worked to improve resilience in the Black and Latinx communities through volunteering, opting into having difficult conversations about systemic oppression.

After receiving her B. S., her love for science continued at Purdue University, where she studied analytical chemistry. Her Ph.D. research focused on lipid analysis using mass spectrometry. She has presented her work on multiple platforms such as the Gordon Research Conference, National Organization for the Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers and American Society for Mass Spectrometry. Her work has also been published in the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry and Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry. 

Dr. E had the honor of working on dissertation research at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Her research projects focused on developing an analytical technique for characterizing the molecular structure of glycerol-based lipids in human plasma. On November 4th, 2019, She successfully defended her thesis titled “Incorporation of the Paternò–Büchi reaction into mass spectrometry-based systems for lipid structural characterization.”

Dr. E was a postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University where she expanded the use of gas-phase ion/ion reactions for lipid analysis using mass spectrometry. Currently, she is a postdoctoral research fellow for a non-profit organization based outside of Boston, MA.