Da’Quan D. Craven
He/Him
I am gay and I am a doctoral student in anatomy, cell biology, & physiology (education track).//
Though I only completed high school with a 2.7 GPA, I always did well in science courses. I was a very misguided Flint, MI kid. One of my first college courses ever was Anatomy & Physiology (w/a fantastic prof), and it was also the scariest course I’ve taken to date. I managed to do very well, and that’s when I realized my passion for exploring the human body and teaching and learning. A bench scientist by training (Pharmacology at UMICH and Medical Physiology at CWRU), I focused on molecular cardiology. Once I stopped trying to prove my worthiness to myself and others, I let the “dream” of an MD/Ph.D. go and pursued my true passion: how to make science teaching in colleges more equitable and engaging? This is how I ended up here at Indiana University School of Medicine, working on a Ph.D. in Anatomy, Cell Biology, & Physiology that has an educational dissertation component instead of bench work. I hope to create and disseminate more equitable pedagogical and curricular strategies so that classrooms at all levels become places that Black students want to enter and can thrive in! 💜 Oh, and twerk therapy is my only therapy.