Professional Bio

Cynthia Needham, Ph.D., is President and co-Founder of ICAN Productions, Ltd. Needham is an internationally recognized microbiologist with over 25 years experience in the medical community, as well as a strong record in scientific investigation and teaching. She is the Principal Investigator and Project Director for the NSF funded project “Nanotechnology: The Convergence of Science and Society.” The project is comprised of a 3 part series of Fred Friendly Seminars for broadcast on public television, a significant online resource for delving into the societal implications of nanotechnology (www.powerofsmall.org), a series of radio spots produced by Earth and Sky, and ten regional science center initiatives based on the topics of the Seminars. The project team has also conducted a series of citizen forums focused on local issues related to nanotechnology around the country with additional funding from the Department of Energy.

Prior to this project, Needham created and directed the Microbial Literacy Collaborative, a partnership among organizations and individuals that produced a major public education initiative with major funding from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the American Society for Microbiology, and the Annenberg/CPB Project. The initiative’s interrelated components included a 4-hour PBS limited series broadcast in 1999 (Intimate Strangers: Unseen Life on Earth), a 12-part telecourse produced for the Annenberg/CPB Project (Unseen Life on Earth: An Introduction to Microbiology), an award-winning web site (http://www.microbeworld.org/), teen science leadership development programs, teaching and learning aids for biology teachers and students, and the trade book Intimate Strangers, Unseen Life on Earth (Washington: ASM Press, 2000). ASM Press will publish her second book, Global Disease Eradication – The Race for the Last Child, in early 2003.

Needham is a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, and a Diplomat (Emeritus) of the American Academy of Medical Microbiology. She was formerly an associate professor at Boston University Medical School and an adjunct associate professor with the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology at Tufts University School of Medicine before leaving to devote her energy to enriching the public understanding of science. She was National Secretary of the American Society for Microbiology (the 45,000+ member professional society for microbiologists) from 1988 to 1995.

Needham serves on a number of boards, including the Clarina Howard Nichols Center’s Board of Directors, of which she is currently president, and the Waksman Foundation Board of Trustees. In the winter, she directs the adaptive ski program at Stowe Mountain Resort and teaches Ashtanga yoga.

Planned Conference Participation

Attending :: ISE PI Summit 2008
25 - 26 July 2008