Speaker Bio: Judith Simcox , Ph.D.

Judith Simcox is an Associate Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with an adjunct appointment in the Department of Nutritional Sciences. She received her BA in Biology from Carroll College and her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Utah. Her lab focuses on inter-organ communication through lipid derived metabolites. The long-term focus of her research program is to understand the sources of lipids that fuel brown fat thermogenesis and uncover the cross-tissue communication pathways that regulate the production of these lipids. The lab uses lipidomics, genetics, and cellular and molecular biology techniques coupled with mouse physiology to answer these questions. Dr. Simcox was selected as a UW2020: WARF Discovery Initiative Awardee, a Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) Scholar at the UW-Madison, and received the JDRF Diversifying Diabetes Research Talent in Academia Award.

Through her career Dr. Simcox has worked to increase opportunities for historically excluded and under-represented minorities in Science. As a graduate student she helped build the Native American Research Internship (NARI), serving as a community, cultural, and academic mentor to Indigenous students gaining laboratory experience at the University of Utah. She is also an active member of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) having previously served as Vice President and National Liaison for the University of Utah chapter. Currently, Dr. Simcox serves as the co-mentor for the University of Wisconsin-Madison American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) Chapter, a mentor for the Native American Center for Health Professionals (NACHP), and a member of the Indigenous Environmentalism and Science Working Group.