This presentation is part of an ongoing speaker series provided by the Faculty Mentoring Link Program of Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University
Mentoring in the Current Moment
Presenter: Sherilynn Black, PhD, Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement, Duke University
Location: ZOOM
Date: October 1, 2026
Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm
After attending this session participants will be able to:
• Identify tangible ways that mentorship can empower creativity and innovation while navigating uncertain circumstances
Competencies:
• Interpersonal and Communication Skills
• Employ evidence-based practice
Sherilynn Black, PhD, is the Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement, providing national leadership in many areas of faculty and leadership advancement. She also designs institutional interventions that develop thriving systems, advance data-driven behavioral change, and optimize mentorship practices. Dr. Black is an Assistant Professor of the Practice of Medical Education and engages in social neuroscience research to better understand the motivators and underlying behaviors that impact experiences in the academy. She examines the role of contextual affordances in the effectiveness of interventions designed to advance culture in local units. Dr. Black has long-standing expertise in creating interventions to increase representation among faculty and students across disciplines and leads work nationally to catalyze systemic change in academia.
Dr. Black previously served as the founding Director of OBGD in the Duke University School of Medicine and was also a Principal Investigator of the NIH-IMSD funded Duke Biosciences Collaborative for Research Engagement (BioCoRE) Program. She sits on several institutional advisory boards and holds a number of national appointments and roles relating to faculty development and advancement with the NIH, HHMI, AAMC, The Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and the Society for Neuroscience. She served on the Advisory Committee of the Director of the NIH (WGD) and is currently appointed as an ad-hoc member of NIGMS Council at NIH. She also serves as co-chair of the National Academies Roundtable on Mentorship, Professional Development and Well-Being and is the co-chair of the Ivy+ Faculty Advancement Network and National Institute. In 2025, she became the Monitoring Editor of CBE Life Sciences Education.
Dr. Black has won several distinctions for her work, including the Samuel DuBois Cook Society award, the Duke University EDI award, the Dean’s Award for Inclusive Excellence in Graduate Education, the Duke University Centennial Trailblazer distinction, and was named as a Cell Press Top 100 Inspiring Black Scientists in America and a Principal Facilitator for the national Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER). She earned her B.S. in Psychology and Biology with highest honors at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill as a Morehead-Cain Scholar. She earned her Ph.D. in Neurobiology at Duke University and completed additional studies in educational statistics and intervention assessment in the School of Education at UNC–Chapel Hill.
ACCREDITATION
Macon and Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
CREDIT DESIGNATION
Macon and Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at Old Dominion University designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.