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Glad You Asked: Is America Still a Beacon for Immigrant Scientists?

The United States has long been a magnet for people from scientists from all over the world. With both science and immigration under attack, Raphael Valdivia wonders if that legacy is at risk. This is one of the questions being asked in this weekend’s March for Science.

In this week’s “Glad You Asked” podcast, Valdivia asks, “Am I still welcomed here?” Valdivia grew up in Lima, Peru, and fell in love with science here in the United States, launching a career in molecular genetics.

Now, Valdivia is an associate professor of molecular genetics and microbiology in the Duke School of Medicine and vice dean for basic science at Duke.

“Glad You Asked” is a series of short commentaries by Duke experts on issues that deserve public attention. In Season 2, Duke experts share a question they would like to pose to our nation’s new president — and describe why that question matters.

More Glad You Asked podcasts can be found here.

Valdivia will appear on WUNC-FM’s “The State of Things” today (Friday, April 21) at noon.


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