Jasmine R. Marcelin


Jasmine R. Marcelin is a Caribbean-American infectious disease physician and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Marcelin is also the Associate Medical Director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program and as well as the Co-Director of Digital Innovation and Social Media Strategy at UNMC. Marcelin is dedicated to advancing diversity, inclusion, and equity in her communities and is a founding member of the Infectious Diseases Society of America Inclusion, Diversity, Access & Equity Taskforce. Marcelin uses social media to advance medicine, diversity, and patient advocacy and has published articles on how to effectively use social media for these purposes.

Early life and education

Marcelin was born on the island of Dominica in the Caribbean. She grew up in Antigua, where she began to develop an interest in infectious disease. In high school, Marcelin explored the epidemiology of mosquito-born infectious diseases. Marcelin moved to Canada in 2002 to pursue her undergraduate degree at St. Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She completed a double major in Biology and Chemistry and also obtained a Diploma in Forensic Science from St. Mary's. She was also on the track team at St. Mary's while in college. In 2006, after completing her Bachelors of Science, Marcelin pursued her medical training at the American University of Antigua College of Medicine. She completed her medical training in 2011, becoming the Valedictorian of her medical class. Following her medical training, Marcelin pursued her residency in Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. During her residency, Marcelin found her passion for practicing infectious disease medicine. She obtained her board certification in Internal Medicine in 2014 and then completed her Fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the Mayo Clinic in 2017.

Career and research

In 2017, Marcelin was recruited to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and was appointed Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases. She is also the Associate Medical Director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program and she was also appointed Co-Director of the Digital Innovation and Social Medical Strategy in the Division of Infectious Disease. As Associate Director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship residency program, Marcelin educates and supports future residents in this field. Marcelin's clinical practice in infectious disease focuses on treating skin and soft tissue infections as well as caring for patients with HIV.
In addition to her roles at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Marcelin is a member of the Inclusion, Diversity, Access and Equity Taskforce and the Vice Chair for Digital Strategy Advisory Group for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. She is also a member of the Medical Scholars Program Committee and the Medical Education Community of Practice for IDSA. Marcelin is also a founding member of Time's Up Healthcare which focuses on creating a more diverse and equitable healthcare space.

Social media and infectious disease

Marcelin uses social media to advance the field of infectious disease as well as advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in medicine. Marcelin is the founding vice-chair of the Digital Strategy Advisory Group for IDSA and in this role she uses social media as a way to engage the community through enhancing collaborations and discussions of new findings and literature. In 2019, Marcelin published an article with her collaborators discussing how social media platforms can be leveraged to increase the speed and reach of research in infectious disease and antimicrobial stewardship.

Advocacy

Marcelin advocated for diversity, equity, and inclusion in medicine and conducts research and publishes articles to support her work. Marcelin reported the success and the challenges of improving diversity, equity, and inclusion within the field of infectious diseases. Marcelin also proposed the "Be Ethical Campaign" where she challenged leaders in healthcare to document gaps in equity in the workplace and move towards closing these gaps. Marcelin educates her community on the presence and impact of unconscious bias in the workplace. She wrote an article that explained how unconscious biases can perpetuate inequalities in healthcare and she described the various types of bias that exist in healthcare. Marcelin proposed ways in which the field of infectious disease could begin to mitigate the bias and the negative effects of bias in the workplace such as commitment to inclusion, diversity training and use of the implicit attitudes test, as well as individual strategies such as mindfulness and reflection. Marcelin has also co-authored papers on the barriers that exist for women in pediatrics. She focuses on using a scientific and data driven approach to work towards a more equitable work environment.

Awards and honors