Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Our Mission

We recognize that we have a long way to go to increase equity and diversity in our section. We pledge to fight for equity, inclusion, and equal representation at all levels. We intend to foster an inclusive, welcoming environment for scientists from historically marginalized and excluded groups, including those based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical ability, socioeconomic class, and the intersections between these. As a section, we are pushing forward initiatives that will ensure we are recruiting and retaining scientists from these historically marginalized and excluded groups. As individuals, we are making a concerted effort to unlearn our own racism and implicit biases, and we are having the uncomfortable conversations needed to foster change. We will not be satisfied with just promises. We are committed to taking actions that challenge racism and inequality.

Our initial goals as a section are:

anti-racism education for all members
advocacy for racial & social justice at our university
equitable recruitment & hiring
inclusion & representation in all levels of research
conscientious community outreach

Recruitment and Retention of Diverse Scientists

We recognize that recruitment represents an initial step toward combating inequities and are adopting strategies to foster more supportive environments for diverse scientists at every level, from student interns to faculty members:

Professional Research Assistants (PRAs)

We are currently developing recruitment and retention strategies to support Professional Research Assistants (PRAs) from historically marginalized and excluded groups. As a first step, we are currently establishing a formal support structure to welcome and encourage new PRAs as a more cohesive community. Importantly, we also recognize that PRA positions are unique and represent both long term careers through the Research Associate Series and shorter-term opportunities for research experience. In regard to the latter path, we will work closely with the CU Summer Research Training Program and will develop connections with surrounding undergraduate institutions to identify and recruit recent graduates seeking research experience.

Students

High School
In collaboration with Clear Direction Mentoring , a non-profit program that provides long-term mentorship and immersive experience to high school students from historically under-represented groups interested in STEM careers. We are placing rising high school seniors and college freshmen in our labs for paid summer internships to allow students to have their first-ever research experience with outstanding scientists and mentors. If you are interested in getting involved as a mentor or fellow, apply here or contact Dr. Julia Derk at ClearDirectionMentoring@gmail.com. To help fund a student’s research journey, you can donate here.

Undergrad
The Summer Research Training Program is an initiative by the CU Anschutz Neuroscience Graduate Program, the Medical Scientist Training Program and their respective outreach organizations aimed at creating opportunities for students who have been historically under-represented in science. This program provides funds for a paid, full-time summer research internship in a Neuroscience or Physician-Scientist lab at CU Anschutz Medical Campus, which includes several of our section members. We are currently working with the SRTP to add a dedicated developmental biology track to the program starting summer 2022. To help fund a student’s research journey, you can donate here.

Graduate
Our labs train and support students from many different PhD programs on the CU Anschutz campus. We encourage prospective PhD students to contact faculty who they might be interested in working with. Our section faculty and students have been actively involved in implementing changes over the past several years to make our PhD program admissions and recruitment practices more equitable and inclusive. These efforts have resulted in increased access to application fee waivers, elimination of the GRE requirement and training for admissions committees in implicit bias and holistic review. We also have section representation on the Graduate Program DEI Task Force that aims to promote diversity, equity and inclusion across all graduate programs on the CU Anschutz campus. Current efforts being pursued by the Task Force are a Graduate Program climate survey on equity and inclusion, training in equitable and holistic review of graduate applications and a joint proposal to the Graduate School to create new procedures, policies and systemic supports to increase the diversity of our graduate student population and to support all of our graduate students from historically marginalized and under-represented backgrounds.

Anti-Racism Education

We stand against racial injustice and in solidarity with those who are speaking out against it. The murders of Elijah McClain, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other innocent Black Americans have reinvigorated an anti-racist movement, and we are dedicated to taking an active role. We are adopting long overdue anti-racist practices and policies. We will no longer be complicit in the institutional and systemic racism that pervades academic and medical institutions. We understand that it is not enough to not be racist, but that we must be actively and vehemently anti-racist and advocate for our peers of color. Black Lives Matter. Black scientists matter.

To unlearn our own racism and implicit biases, we are hosting a monthly DEI Book Club where we as scientists can read and learn about intersectionality and how intertwined science is with societal systems of oppression. We read and discuss the history of racism with an emphasis on racism in science and medicine, how science created and perpetuates racism, and how we can use our positions as scientists to create positive change and move science forward with anti-racist intent. While anti-racism is the core of our book club, we also discuss other areas of intersectionality including the many marginalizations faced by numerous scientists today: gender, sexuality, disability, class, and more. Our goal is to provide a safe space for discussions and growth, and to read about and brainstorm active solutions for making our section truly representative and inclusive.

Contact

Check back often as we will be continually updating our goals and the actions we are taking to promote equity in our section, at our university, and within our community. If you have any questions, thoughts on how we can improve our DEI efforts, or want to get involved, please reach out to our DEI committee chairs: Santos Franco (santos.franco@cuanschutz.edu), Rebecca Vareed (rebecca.vareed@cuanschutz.edu), and Caitlin Winkler (caitlin.winkler@cuanschutz.edu).

Microscope Images

Brightfield image of newly fertilized zebrafish embryos at the 4-cell stage. Alexandria Hughes, Appel Lab

Zebrafish (3 days post fertilization), novel notochord enhancer marked by drl:mCherry and Cerulean. Hannah Moran, Mosimann Lab

Zebrafish heart (3 days old); endothelial marker lmo2 (magenta), myocardium marker myl7 (blue), drl+ myeloid cells (green). Featured in “From Stripes to a Beating Heart: Early Cardiac Development in Zebrafish” (review), Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease (doi: 10.3390/jcdd8020017). Frederike Riemslagh, Mosimann Lab

Developing mouse cortex (embryonic day 17.5); Hes5pGFP reporter (yellow), Ascl1 (magenta), CAG-BFP reporter plasmid (blue). Hes5pGFP primarily labels radial glia, which have a distinct bipolar morphology - an apical process with end feet and a long basal process or radial glial fiber. CAG-BFP primarily labels intermediate progenitors and new-born neurons. If you look closely, you can see blue neurons climbing along the yellow fibers of the radial glia up into the cortical plate. Luuli Tran, Franco Lab

Coronal section of a developing mouse cortex (embryonic day 18.5); DAPI (blue). Neural progenitors were labeled with inheritable EGFP (green) via electroporation at embryonic day 15.5 in order to track their progeny over time. Luuli Tran, Franco Lab

Vasculature (magenta) in the developing zebrafish spinal cord accompanied by several macrophages (cyan). Rebecca Vareed, Appel Lab

Various images of neuronal and glial cells that were generated by neural stem cells labeled with a palette of fluorescent proteins. Similar to how a television generates many hues from three primary colors, this technique can mark neural stem cells and their progeny with unique color combinations to help us better understand how the brain develops. Caitlin Winkler, Franco Lab

Tools & Resources

CU Campuses

CU Anschutz Medical Campus

Department of Pediatrics

School of Medicine