Dr. Keisha Gibson, chief of pediatric nephrology, has been featured in WRAL.com’s Women of the Triangle series, recognized for how she promotes diversity and inclusivity in medicine and life.
Gibson, who is associate professor of medicine and pediatrics, as well as director of the pediatric nephrology fellowship program, explains in the article that she is “the product of positive representation as well as programs that promote women and minorities in science.” She recalls listening to a young black dental student years ago who spoke at a program about women in science.
“I can’t tell you her name, but I can to this day see her face, and I remember looking at her, sitting in the audience, and thinking, ‘Wow, she looks like me,’” Gibson said.
It was because of this woman’s impact on her that Gibson engages with young people and strives be a role model. Gibson also says the importance of diversity isn’t only crucial for young women and minorities.
“I think it’s important for students who look like me, but it’s equally important for students who don’t look like me,” she says in the article. “It’s equally important for all of us to understand the importance of inclusivity and to always have the assumption that people should be able to do anything that they want.”
Gibson is from Durham and graduated from Jordan High School. She studied molecular biology at Winston-Salem State University before earning her medical degree at the UNC School of Medicine.
Find the article here.