The Grad Lab is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment that enables all trainees to thrive. To do so, we recognize that we have to do our part to address the systemic racism and discrimination in our institutions and communities. We commit to the following actions to make our science more equitable and accessible. We revisit these principles and assess progress annually at our academic summit, and we welcome feedback and ideas from lab members anytime.
All lab members are expected to engage
- By joining this lab, all lab members are expected to participate in these activities, ranging from self-education to mentorship of new trainees. We believe work in this area is an essential part of our public health mission and our training as scientists.
Recruiting and retaining a diverse community
- We believe it is integral for the lab to maintain diversity, inclusiveness, and respect for all members of our community.
- Undergraduates from underrepresented backgrounds are encouraged to apply to the Biological Sciences in Public Health program and the NSURP summer internships. We have hosted interns from these programs before and welcome inquiries into available opportunities.
- We encourage individuals from underrepresented backgrounds interested in graduate and postdoctoral fellowship positions in the lab to apply to join our lab. Please email Yonatan with inquiries about the availability of positions and include a description of how the lab matches your interests and goals.
- We are committed to supporting trainees throughout their time in the lab. This support comes from within the lab, where we encourage peer support and maintaining open communication with Yonatan, as well as from the available resources from the department, student programs, the school, and the university. These resources include wellness and mental health programs, ombudspeople, and other individuals in programs and offices that focus on personal and professional wellbeing and success.
Educating ourselves
- We are committed to regular discussion of the scientific literature on biases, stereotypes, discrimination, and other issues facing underrepresented trainees and faculty.
- We host outside experts to give trainings on how best to promote and support diversity in STEM and how to recognize and address biases.
Conducting research into health inequities
- Disparities in health have often been overlooked in the public health literature. We have investigated how antibiotic prescribing practices and rates of antibiotic resistance in gonorrhea vary by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, and how COVID-19 prevalence is associated with mobility. We aim to continue to identify, characterize, and analyze areas of disparities in access to healthcare and their implications.
- We aim for all of our publications to be open access and available through pre-print servers. Please contact us for a pdf if you find that any of our publications is not freely available. Code and datasets necessary to replicate analyses will be available through Github or similar repositories.
- When we conduct international research, we aim to design studies to be inclusive and engaging for local communities.
Advocating for justice and equity in the broader academic community
- We aim to support, contribute to, and value efforts to improve diversity, particularly URM representation, at all levels of trainee, staff, and faculty in IID and HSPH.