Paulette McRae, PhD

Paulette McRae, PhD, is Associate Director of Specialty Programs and Diversity in the Office of Academic Training and Outreach Programs at CHOP’s Research Institute. In this role, she works to enhance and support CHOP’s growing population of diverse scientists by developing relevant programming and creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for researchers from all backgrounds. Additionally, she works with Research Institute Leadership to lead the development, implementation and management of formal, discipline-specific research programs.

Paulette aims to promote and support diversity at all levels by identifying opportunities to expand outreach, visibility and recruitment of students, postdocs and other researchers-in-training. She works closely with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Associate Chair for Diversity in the Department of Pediatrics to align the diversity goals of the Hospital and the Research Institute.

Paulette started her career at CHOP as a postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Neurology, where her research focused on epilepsy and changes to the extracellular milieu. Upon completion of her training, she spent time as a pharmaceutical industry consultant at ETHOS Health Communications prior to returning to the Research Institute as an Academic Programs Officer. In this position, she developed the support infrastructure for CHOP research trainees and partnered with the University of Pennsylvania to develop CHOP’s inaugural Postdoc Diversity Fellowship Program. Paulette has cultivated relationships with various organizations and institutions to build a talented pipeline of future STEM scholars.

She earned her doctoral degree (PhD) in Neurobiology from Yale University and her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Rutgers University.