Dr. Ninecia Scott, a native of Raleigh, NC, attended North Carolina Central University (a HBCU – historically black college and/or university) and obtained her undergraduate degrees in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Biology. She earned her PhD at Washington University in St. Louis in Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis understanding how the immune system can be beneficial and harmful during Tuberculosis infections in the lung. Dr. Scott is a currently a postdoctoral Immunology trainee that is seeking to understand how Streptococcus pneumoniae spreads throughout the body, particularly to the heart and causes cardiac injury at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She is interested in how to translate these findings to the individuals impacted by pneumonia. Dr. Scott also is a MERIT- at- large trainee and teaches microbiology at Oakwood University in Huntsville, AL. Dr. Scott was recently named as a 2021 Burroughs Wellcome Fund Postdoctoral Enrichment Program Fellow and one of 1,000 Inspiring Black Scientists by Cell Mentor. She currently was the founder and holds an advisory position for UAB’s Black Postdoctoral Association, serves on UAB’s Equity Leadership Council and Racial Equity and Justice Task Force, and an executive board member of the Black Microbiologist Association. When she is not at the laboratory bench conducting experiments, you can find her traveling, looking for the next great food spot to try and finding new up and coming musical artists.