Dr. Renã A. S. Robinson, Professor of Chemistry at Vanderbilt University and inaugural Dorothy J. Wingfield Phillips Chancellor’s Faculty Fellow, received her B.S. in Chemistry with concentration in Business from the University of Louisville and Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Indiana University under the mentorship of Professor David Clemmer. She developed proteomics methods to study aging in Drosophila (fruit flies) and continued working in aging as a Lyman T. Johnson Postdoctoral Fellow with Professor D. Allan Butterfield at the University of Kentucky. During this fellowship she began to focus on neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and received a UNCF/Merck Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Dr. Robinson joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh as Assistant Professor in 2009 and moved to Vanderbilt University in 2017. She has a nationally and internationally recognized research program and is a leader in the field of proteomics for her work in aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and applications relevant to human health and disparities. Her laboratory is especially focused on using advancing proteomics and lipidomics technologies to further understanding of health disparities in Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Robinson is a Co-Investigator of the Recruitment Innovations for Diversity Enhancements NIH Award to understand the effectiveness of storytelling as a recruitment tool into Alzheimer’s disease research. She is an active member of several organizations serving underrepresented students and professionals in STEM, and is the President of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) and the faculty advisor for the Nashville Student and Professional Chapter of NOBCChE.