Professor & Vice Dean for Faculty,
School of Medicine, John Hopkins University

Dr. Clements is a professor of molecular and comparative pathobiology, neurology and pathology, with a joint appointment in molecular biology and genetics at Johns Hopkins University. As vice dean for faculty since 1999, she serves as the voice of the faculty in the Dean’s Office.

The 24th woman to be promoted to professor in the School of Medicine, Dr. Clements has advocated and fostered the creation of opportunities for women and underrepresented minorities in academia. Toward those goals, she has served as a member of the steering committee of the Johns Hopkins Women’s Leadership Council, helped to create the new position of associate dean for diversity and cultural competence, and urged changes in the composition of search committees to be more inclusive of women and minorities. Serving as a guide for faculty members, she has led efforts to more clearly explain the criteria for promotion. She has also steered initiatives to improve the quality of teaching of residents and medical students at the school.

In her scientific work, Dr. Clements has extensively studied how viruses interact with cells to cause disease. Much of her research has concentrated on animal lentiviruses—which include HIV and simian immunodeficiency virus—and their role in chronic neurological disease. Dr. Clements was the first director of comparative medicine, a department that uses animal models to better understand disease. Since 1992, she has headed the Retrovirus Laboratory, an integrated research program on the pathogenesis of lentivirus infections.

Born on Long Island, New York, Dr. Clements received a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Maryland, College Park. She arrived at Johns Hopkins in 1974 as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics and joined the faculty of the Department of Neurology as an assistant professor in 1979. She was promoted to professor in 1990.

Associate Professor, Department of Sociology,
Colorado State University

Dr. Jennifer Cross is the Director of Research for the Institute for the Built Environment and Associate Professor of Sociology at Colorado State University. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University and received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California at Davis. Her areas of expertise include conservation, community development, professional social networks, social norms, and behavior change. Dr. Cross’s passion is applying the tools of social science (theory and research methods) to help communities and organizations create meaningful change.

Dr. Cross has received grants from the U.S. Department of Education and Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention. She is a community sociologist who regularly works with public schools and community agencies on a variety of community-based participatory research projects centered on health promotion and community development. Her current projects include research on land conservation decision-making, energy conservation and sustainability in public schools, and inter-agency collaboration related to organizational transformation.

A talented and sought after lecturer and facilitator, Dr. Cross regularly gives keynote addresses and develops workshops for businesses, non-profits, local government and educational groups. Recently she has spoken about using social network analysis for informing the integrated design process, making organizational transformation for sustainability, and creating social marketing campaigns for conservation. Jeni is dedicated to the land grant mission for service and outreach and is known for her skill at translating social science into practice.

Vice President of Communications,
Research!America

Suzanne Ffolkes is the Vice President of Communications of Research!America, the nation’s largest nonprofit alliance working to make research to improve health a higher national priority.  As Vice President, Suzanne oversees communications strategies to position Research!America as the substantive, go-to resource for members of the alliance, legislators, media and the public. She has presented at the NIH Executive Leadership Program, the American Federation for Medical Research Eastern Regional Meeting, the Association of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Neurobiology Chairpersons/Association of Medical School Neuroscience Department Chairpersons joint annual meeting, the Association of Medical School Microbiology and Immunology Chairs annual meeting, Sigma Xi the Scientific Research Honor Society, the National Medical Association, the Society for Neuroscience Communicating Science webinar, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing communications workshop. She also serves on the John Hopkins University School of Nursing National Advisory Board.

Previously, Suzanne served as Director of Media Advocacy for the American Heart Association, a Research!America member, leading media and communications activities for the association’s policy initiatives.  She has also served as a Senior Media Outreach Specialist for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and as a Senior Communications Specialist for the United Negro College Fund.  For her work in the public relations and communications field, Suzanne received numerous awards including the PR News NonProfit Award, the Hermes Creative Award, the Communicator Award and the MarCom International Award.

In her early career, Suzanne was a journalist for The Associated Press Broadcast News Center and for various broadcast and print media outlets around the country including CNN.  She received a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a Master’s Degree in Public Communication from The American University in Washington, D.C.