Andre Samuel was raised in Washington, DC and graduated from the University of the District of Columbia with a degree in Biology. Following graduate study at the George Washington University in Genomics and Bioinformatics, he received his PhD in Biology from Duquesne University. At Duquesne, his research focused on studying the structure and function of the cold shock related proteins in E. coli. As a Ph.D. candidate, Dr. Samuel founded the S.I.G.M.A Science Mentorship Initiative, a summer study program designed to introduce diverse ninth graders to the University’s lab with the long-term goal of encouraging the pursuit of careers in scientific research. Dr. Samuel’s research experience includes studying toxicology and carcinogenicity effects of novel drugs, hookworm vaccine development under the direction of Dr. Peter Hotez and tuberculosis reactivation in non-human primates in the laboratories of Dr. JoAnne Flynn. Dr. Samuel has a passion for STEM education and life science research. He believes that creating fun engaging and hands-on lab experiences for people is the best pathway to an interest in STEM.
Over the past 7 years, The Citizen Science Lab has received a number of awards for its work throughout the community. In 2015 Dr. Samuel was awarded the BMe leadership award recognized for his excellence and positive impact through The Citizen Science Lab on black males. In 2016 The Citizen Science Lab received four awards for their participation in the Seaperch robotic program and dr. Samuel was also selected to participate in the Navy Embark program. This program selects highly recognized educators in STEM to travel to San Diego and spend 24 hours on a deployed aircraft carrier. In 2016, Dr. Samuel received the President’s Volunteer Service Award from the Obama Administration. In 2017 The Citizen Science Lab received the PSAYDEN after school champion award and the Iota Phi Foundation’s Excellence in Education Award. Dr. Samuel has also been selected as an inaugural member of the Lead Now Pittsburgh cohort created by Leadership Pittsburgh and just recently, in 2020, received the Carnegie Science Center’s Leadership in STEM education award.
Andre serves as the Lead of Remake Learning’s STEAM working group, the Pittsburgh Regional STE(A)M Ecosystem.