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News & Resources

Meet Five Inspiring Women in Science

February 11, 2022

Juilee Thakar, PhDJuilee Thakar, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology was highlighted in URMC's reflection on International Day of Girls and Women in Science. Read more about her story entering science as a career, her current work, and her advice for young women interested in science in the article, "Meet Five Inspiring Women in Science".

 

Celebrating Black History Month: Daily Spotlight!

February 1, 2022

Beginning today, and lasting throughout February, URMC will be spotlighting a Medical History Maker every day. Please bookmark and visit the website each day to check out the daily spotlight! Note: the website works best on Chrome, Safari, Edge, or Firefox. It does not work well using Internet Explorer.

Join us in the 21 Day Racial Equity Challenge

February 1, 2022

The SMD Office of Equity and Inclusion, in partnership with the Association of Minority Residents and Fellows, invites you and your colleagues to participate in the 21 Day Racial Equity Challenge! This challenge is intended as a self-guided learning tool for all URMC students, residents, fellows, faculty, and staff who are at all stages and levels of familiarity with DEI initiatives and offers an open and safe environment for discussion and reflection. The challenge consists of 5 major parts and a reflection on each: read, watch, listen, notice, and act. Note: the website works best on Chrome, Safari, Edge, or Firefox. It does not work well using Internet Explorer.

Two nominees from CVBI recognized in Presidential Stronger As One Diversity Awards

January 21, 2022

The Presidential Stronger As One Diversity Awards honor faculty, staff, students, the Greater Rochester Community, and a member of the Board of Trustees whose actions, activities, and/ or accomplishments support our five institutional equity, diversity, and inclusion priorities toward making the University of Rochester a welcoming and inclusive environment.

We are pleased to recognize two members of the Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology who were nominated!

Stefanie Stefanie FinglerFingler, Senior Administrator and Research Program Manager, Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology, University of Rochester Medical Center, who was nominated for the Advocacy and Action Award. The Advocacy and Action Award recognizes staff, postdoctoral fellows, and/or faculty who exemplify excellence in developing and sustaining an infrastructure to support equity, diversity, and inclusion.

 

 

Ashwin KumarAshwin B. R. Kumar, PhD Candidate, Biochemistry and Biophysics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, who was nominated for the Change Maker Award. The Change Maker Award recognizes a student(s)—undergraduate, graduate, or postdoctoral fellow— and/or student organization that aims to cultivate a fair and just climate, culture, and community with an equitable, diverse, and inclusive lens at the University of Rochester and/or its surrounding communities.

Together we can work toward making the University of Rochester a welcoming and inclusive environment!

Remarks on 2021 Nobel Prize Season

November 29, 2021

Dear Colleagues,

Like every year, this year, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to scientists who have had the privilege to have their groundbreaking work recognized. The Nobel Selection Committee has lauded a variety of great works: from organo-catalysis to temperature and touch sensing to physics of complex systems and natural experiments and causal relationship. The literature prize was even awarded for making an uncompromising understanding of the impact of colonization. These high-impact ideas and work have shaped our understanding of the human body and strategies to improve our quality of life. It is our goal to ensure that these ideas are not only recognized, but also accessible to all, including systemically excluded and exploited populations.

However, as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Council, we must emphasize specific observations and take action. The pool of Nobel Laureates, even in 2021, continues to lack diversity and reflects our present-day use of exclusionary policy and practices. As we all know, honors such as the Nobel Prize are made to recognize decades of consistent high-impact work. It is clear that the lack of representation of women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community is due to the absence of equity, diversity and inclusion at a systemic and institutional level throughout modern history. It is a reflection of our acknowledgment of inequity and prioritization of reform that we recognizing this as problematic.

We join the world in celebrating groundbreaking research and brilliant minds this award season. We also acknowledge the inequities that exist within the scientific community and our own institution that have excluded the recognition and honors deserved by phenomenal scientists from systemically excluded groups.  With this, we would like to stress the importance of prioritizing our goals and efforts of increasing equity, diversity and inclusion today, so that these values will be more clearly reflected in the Nobel laureates of the future.

- Microbiology and Immunology DEI Council

Recommended Reading

MBI/CVBI DEI Little Library

Resources and Affinity Groups