Dr. Frances Colón is the Deputy Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State where she promotes integration of science and technology into foreign policy dialogues; global advancement of women in science; and innovation as a tool for economic growth around the world. Among her achievements as a science diplomat, she has coordinated climate change policy for the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas announced by President Obama in 2009, launching programs for training of glaciologists and climate change adaptation in the Caribbean. Her first steps in diplomacy were in the Muslim world, enhancing K-12 science and math education cooperation. Her most recent adventures have her developing avenues for collaboration amongst scientists in the United States and Cuba. She is a graduate of the National Hispana Leadership Institute and a 2014-2015 Delegate of the U.S.-Japan Leadership Program. Dr. Colón earned her Ph.D. in Neuroscience in 2004 from Brandeis University and her B.S. in Biology in 1997 from the University of Puerto Rico where her passion for science was sparked as an undergraduate researcher. She believes that the best scientists of the future will be those that can discover, communicate and lead – at and beyond the bench.
The Vatican
APRIL 28-30, 2016
