Five Women Scholars Who Are Taking on New Roles at Universities

Parastoo Abtahi is a new assistant professor of computer science at Princeton University in New Jersey. She was a visiting research scientist specializing in human-computer interaction at Meta Reality Lab in Toronto.

Dr. Abtahi is a graduate of the University of Toronto, where she majored in engineering science. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University.

Karen Plaut has been promoted to executive vice president for research at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Dr. Plaut joined the faculty in 2010 and became dean of the College of Agriculture in 2018. Before joining the faculty at Purdue, Dr. Plaut taught at Michigan State University and the University of Vermont.

Dr. Plaut is a graduate of the University of Vermont, where she majored in animal science. She holds a master’s degree in animal nutrition from Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. in animal science from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Marni Shoemaker is a new assistant professor of nutrition in the School of Health and Consumer Sciences at South Dakota State University. Her research involves both nutrition and exercise physiology by focusing on how nutrition and exercise impact skeletal muscle health across the lifespan.

Dr. Shoemaker is a graduate of Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where she majored in biology and exercise science. She holds a master’s degree in nutrition and health science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Ph.D. in health science from the University of Texas at El Paso.

Katherine Friedman, associate professor of biological sciences and vice chair of the department of biological sciences at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, has been given the added duties of associate provost for undergraduate research. Dr. Friedman joined the faculty at the university in 2001.

Dr. Friedman is a graduate of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where she majored in biology. She earned a Ph.D. in genetics at the University of Washington.

Daniela Salvemini, the William Beaumont Professor and chair of the department of pharmacology and physiology at Saint Louis University, was named director of the new Institute for Translational Neuroscience at the university. From 1996 to 2006, Dr. Salvemini taught at the university while serving as an executive for Metaphore Pharmaceuticals. She joined the university’s full-time faculty in 2006.

Dr. Salvemini is a graduate of Kings College, London, where she majored in pharmacology. She earned a Ph.D. in pharmacology at London University.