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Darrell Marshall knew he would become a scientist when he was 5 years old. Marshall is a Detroit native who describes his upbringing as “pretty rough,” being raised in the city during the ’80s and ’90s. However, his mother, who was a single parent, constantly reminded him that he could have a north star, and for him this turned out to be science. “She used to tell me all the time, ‘Hey, you’re gonna do this, you can do whatever you want.’ And I just believed it. And I think in our community, a lot of times people don’t believe that to be true because they don’t see those examples, but I just really trusted my mom,” Marshall recalled during an interview with AFROTECH™. Marshall attended Wayne State University and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in analytical chemistry in 2011. From there, he pursued a doctorate in bioanalytical chemistry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His thesis was titled , “Combining nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry metabolomics...
Nineteen-year-old Titilope Olotu has secured grant funding for her innovation around menstruation. Advocacy For Health Born and raised in Nigeria, Olotu recalls experiencing various inequities in health care dating back to her time in school. Her mother enrolled her in school three years early because she was an advocate for education. Olotu remembers girls using rags and foam from their beds as menstrual products during their periods. “I was traumatized,” she reflected in an interview with AFROTECH™. Olotu added that menstruation carried a negative stigma in Nigeria, with taboos discouraging women from being around men and discussing their cycles. Her perception of menstruation changed after moving to the U.S. in 2015, at age 9, following an incident in her California middle school gym when she got her period. She was assigned to a male teacher but only accepted help from the lone female gym teacher on staff, who comforted her by wrapping a hoodie around her waist and walking her...
This Black-owned design and operations firm is expanding its technology footprint. ContinuumX.ai Space Continuum, led by President Joshua Johnson, has launched ContinuumX.ai , its technology division, which will focus on robotics, AI integration, and enterprise deployment and will target healthcare, education, hospitality, and manufacturing industries, according to a press release shared with AFROTECH™. Humanoid and cognitive robots are in the works to be deployed in the U.S. Its efforts are in collaboration with strategic technology partner NEURA Robotics. Partnering with NEURA Robotics was a natural fit, since the company focuses on serving humanity and views robotics as a tool to collaborate with humans rather than replace them, Johnson told AFROTECH™. “A lot of robots will replace certain jobs. That’s based on the company saying that’s actually requiring what their vision is. That can be for different reasons. But we also need to identify where there’s a labor shortage in some...
Michael Simoni always knew he would be a doctor. The Haitian-Italian from South Florida, raised by a single mother, knew his strengths were science and math, he told AFROTECH™. In high school, he received a push from a high school biology teacher to become a tutor, which further solidified his interest in STEM. These topics informed his career pursuit, which he initially envisioned in the fields of psychiatry or brain surgery. Simoni attended Dartmouth College and earned a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience in 2008, his LinkedIn states . He spent a couple of years working at a hospital in a neurosurgery lab before enrolling at Harvard Medical School. However, Simoni admitted, in conversation with AFROTECH™, that by his third year, he was not content. “It was just so sad in the hospital all the time. And I was not ready for that…I was a first-generation college student…No one in my family was a doctor. Nobody could tell me what to expect,” Simoni explained. Despite the challenges,...
Six years ago, Larry Black Jr. lay on an operating table at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital in Missouri, prepped for organ donation — despite not being declared brain-dead. Then 22, Black had been shot in the head a week earlier, on March 24, 2019. According to KFF Health News, his heart was still beating, but with his family’s consent, doctors prepared to harvest his organs — until his neurosurgeon , Dr. Zohny Zohny, stepped in. “In my opinion, no family would ever consent to organ donation unless they were given an impression that their family member had a very poor prognosis,” Dr. Zohny said, KFF reported. “I never had a conversation with the family about the prognosis, because it was too early to have that discussion.” Black’s sister Molly Watts said the family had doubts after agreeing to organ donation — but felt ignored until Zohny intervened. Members of Black’s care team had told them he was at “the end of the road,” Watts said. The family was urged to prepare for...
JaBaris Swain is committed to improving outcomes for the Black community through his work as a cardiothoracic transplant surgeon. Swain is a Wharton (MBA) and Harvard graduate. In an interview with the Thoracic Surgery Medical Association, he mentioned that his work as a surgeon has been guided by principles such as advocacy, access, mentorship, representation, community health education, and diversity in research and innovation . “In my view, representation matters. Not just in the operating room, but in policy, research, and patient advocacy,” he said in the interview. Swain works at Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Health System. He has also scaled within Johnson & Johnson, starting as associate director and clinical lead physician in cardiovascular & metabolism TA (August 2020–April 2022), and moving to director-innovation, MedTech (October 2024–Present), according to his LinkedIn. “I trained as a cardiothoracic transplant surgeon and later moved into medical affairs...
It’s time to roll out the red carpet for the 2025 AFROTECH™ Conference speakers. AFROTECH™ Conference Since 2016, Black technologists, professionals, creators, and current and future leaders have convened and celebrated at AFROTECH™ Conference. THE event for Black professionals returns to the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX, running Oct. 27-31, and promises endless networking opportunities for attendees, decision makers, and recruiters at the Expo Hall. Moreover, attendees can expect impactful panels, fireside chats, and workshops on innovation and the future of tech. Guiding these conversations at the 2025 AFROTECH™ Conference are various leaders in AI, medtech, cybersecurity, engineering, marketing and advertising, and fintech. Speaker Lineup Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman will lead conversations under the AI track and discuss the technology’s role in shaping the future of life and work. Google data scientist Emmanuel Ekwedike will head a discussion on...
A Black-owned pharmacy has opened in west Louisville, KY. Good Brothers Pharmacy was founded by longtime friends DeShawn King (CEO) and Isaiah Jones (chief operating officer), who share a passion for health equity, according to the pharmacy’s website. The pair initially saw a need for personalized care for college students near Northern Kentucky University and the University of Cincinnati. Their vision expanded due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and after planning and a few challenges, Good Brothers Pharmacy has officially opened in the Russell neighborhood on West Main Street. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Indigo Abell (@indigoabell) “Good Brothers Pharmacy is more than a business; it’s a promise,” said King, according to WLKY Channel 32 . “ It’s a promise that we are going to stay here forever and we’re going to make an impact on the west Louisville community.” Several pillars will guide the pharmacy, including “trusted relationships with patients; accessible,...
Joel Bervell is leveraging his knowledge as a medical doctor to combat racial disparities in healthcare. Where His Mission Was Born Born in Canada to parents from Ghana, Bervell describes himself as a “third culture kid” in an interview with AFROTECH™. Growing up in the U.S., he always recognized a duality, as he remained connected to other places. His grandmother, who was the caretaker to him and his siblings while his parents were in school and working, played a key role in his upbringing in America. When Bervell was in sixth grade, his grandmother moved back to Ghana, and within a year, she died of malaria. “That was one of my earliest experiences even realizing that healthcare disparities…even existed,” Bervell said. After graduating from Kamiak High School in Mukilteo, WA, Bervell earned a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology at Yale University and his master’s in medical studies from Boston University (BU). Still pondering his next steps, which toggled between medicine,...
Nina Westbrook is stepping into the tech world with the launch of her new wellness app. A Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Westbrook has long been driven by wellness, a passion that also led her to launch Bene™ by Nina. This digital platform offers mental health e-workshops, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. While speaking on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast, Westbrook traced her mission in wellness back to her sports background and her family’s involvement in athletics. According to People Magazine, she played basketball at the University of California, Los Angeles. “It’s always been a part of my mission…just coming from a family of sports and having a sports background myself, and understanding the physicality and understanding how we train our bodies to perform and how we alter our diets to create the best performance physically,” Westbrook said on the podcast. “But we’re not putting that same amount of attention and energy and intention into training our minds and...
22-year-old Daniel Cressy may now be able to reach his aspirations of becoming a pilot due to medical innovation. Cressy is driving an 18-wheeler truck delivering food between New Orleans and Lafayette, LA. However, he dreams of the day when he can fly in the skies. Fortunately, that dream could become a reality soon. Cressy is currently battling sickle cell disease, joining 1,430 people in Louisiana who were hospitalized with the disease in 2023, NOLA.com reports . Sickle cell occurs through a gene mutation that distorts red blood cells from their traditional disc shape into a crescent or “sickle” shape, making it harder for them to move through the body, notes the National Institute of Health. This can lead to immense pain for individuals. However, Cressy is undergoing gene therapy, which is an approach used to modify an individual’s genes to cure the disease. He will receive his own modified stem cells, which have been edited to “reset his body switch.” The process reactivates...
Morgan State University has unveiled a groundbreaking technology. Autonomous Wheelchair Technology According to information shared with AFROTECH™, the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) and Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution is responsible for releasing an autonomous wheelchair technology to help disabled populations navigate busy areas such as airports, hospitals, museums, college campuses, and military bases. Supported by more than five years of research, the wheelchair using an Autonomous Mobility System was conceived by Dr. Mansoureh Jeihani, professor and director of the National Transportation Center (NTC) and the SMARTER Center at Morgan State. Dr. Kofi Nyarko, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Center for Equitable AI and Machine Learning Systems ( CEAMLS ) at the school, also contributed to the design. He served as the lead technical advisor. The technology was brought to life building upon...
Walter Royal III, M.D., has been appointed to a first-of-its-kind role at Morgan State University. The Baltimore native, who holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Harvard University and a doctor of medicine degree from Dartmouth Medical School, has over 30 years of leadership, clinical, and research experience in neurovirology, neuroimmunology, and multiple sclerosis, according to a news release. He has also carved out time to mentor the next generation, playing a vital role in their stepping stones into academic and clinical careers. Dr. Royal’s career trajectory as a neurologist includes tenure at Morehouse School of Medicine. He served as chair of the Department of Neurobiology and director of the Neuroscience Institute. Furthermore, he was associate executive director of the Center for Visual and Neurorehabilitation Research at the Veterans Administration (VA), leading key research. Dr. Royal’s posts also include: Johns Hopkins University University of Maryland VA...
Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. When thinking about AI , your mind may not immediately go to the NBA, but the truth is that the basketball league has embraced the technology for years. The NBA first embraced the technology to help staff and players better analyze the game to improve individual player and team performance. The system used is called player tracking, implemented during the 2013-2014 NBA season, as reported by the Sports Video Group. The NBA sets up cameras at every stadium and then processes the captured information through its software, which analyzes and extracts data on all players who touch the court; this helps players, coaches, and organizations make better decisions about gameplay and the overall strategy for the team. Analyzing the game to make better decisions is one thing, but one of the most important places to have technology play a role is in the health of players, as they play through the season and...
Bowie State University, Maryland’s first Historically Black College and University (HBCU) , has received new funding to increase the number of nurse educators in the state. According to a school news release, the university has been awarded a $2.2 million grant from the Maryland Department of Nursing, administered through the Maryland Higher Education Commission, marking the department’s largest grant to date. The funding will be used to support 20 doctoral faculty members in its Ph.D. program over four years with the overarching goal of advancing the nursing workforce by bolstering nurse educators statewide. Bowie State University serves over 6,100 students, according to the school’s LinkedIn. It offers 29 undergraduate majors, 21 master’s degree programs, 16 specialty certificates and three doctoral programs with focus areas such as science, technology, business, education and related disciplines, its website states. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported there will be 193,100...
