RESOURCES & TRAINING:

Faculty Allies
The UW Medicine Allies program serves graduate students and postdoctoral scholars across the School of Medicine. Allies are faculty and staff who provide trainees with support during conflict with mentors and lab mates, assistance in navigating institutional barriers to success, and connection with institutional and community services. Allies stand in solidarity with trainees, so they don’t have to face challenges alone.

The Department of Genome Sciences offers a variety of courses and training activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Symposium Resources

Resources from Dr. Atom Lesiak's Symposia on Ableism, Micro-Aggressions, Intersectionality, and Pronouns are available here.

Related Articles

"Breaking the binary by coming out as a trans scientist" - article by Genome Sciences graduate student Robin Aguilar in Nature.
"Fighting to be counted" - Science 25 Sep 2020
"This Is the Casual Racism That I Face at My Elite High School" - NY Times
"Black Microbiologists Push for Visibility Amid a Pandemic" - NY Times

LGBTQ+ Resources
Washington State prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. [Chapter 49.60 RCW]. All health insurance plans offered by the UW provide medical coverage for gender-affirming care. South Foege has two all-gender restrooms. Additional resources for transgender employees, as well as their managers and colleagues, are available here.

There is also an LGBTQ College Student resource guide here.

Reproductive Healthcare
We support your personal choices about reproductive health. In Washington state, abortion is legal and protected up to the point of fetal viability or to protect the life or health of the pregnant individual. You do not need to be a state resident nor a US citizen. [Chapter 9.02 RCW]. For additional information on abortion services, visit the Department of Health or read more about UW’s perspective and services here. Birth control and abortion care are covered by UW insurance plans and more information is available here. Free menstrual products are available in restrooms on every floor in South Foege. The UW maintains a list of lactation stations here. In South Foege, multi-use rooms - S250D and S340C, and shower rooms on floors G, 2, 3, and 4 are available as lactation rooms. Additional UW community resources for parents and families are located here.

Culturally Aware Mentoring

Faculty who are currently mentoring trainees are eligible to sign up for Culturally Aware Mentor (CAM) training. This is part of an ongoing study on the impact of culturally aware mentoring interventions on research mentors and graduate training programs, led by Dr. Angela Byars-Winston  at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Three Genome Sciences training faculty are currently enrolled. Interested faculty can contact Denise Barnes (barnem [ a t ] uw.edu) to sign up.

Faculty Diversity
On-demand access to the mentoring, tools, and support you need to be successful in the Academy.

In-House DEI courses

Ethics Course
Graduate students in Genome Sciences enroll in “Genome 580: Ethics in Biomedical Research.” Among other topics, this course covers NIH topics such as:

Conflict of interest
Personal, professional, and financial
Policies regarding human subjects, live vertebrate animal subjects in research and safe laboratory practices
Mentor/Mentee responsibilities and relationships
Collaborative research including collaborations with industry
Peer review
Responsible authorship and publication
Data acquisition and laboratory tools, management, sharing and ownership
Research Misconduct and policies for handling misconduct
Contemporary ethical issues in biomedical research, the environment and society impacts of scientific research.

We aim to address and discuss how each of these topics intersects with diversity, inclusion, equity in genomics. Through this coursework, we provide opportunities for engaging discussions to share perspectives in a manner that is accessible to all participants.

Graduate Certificate in Science, Technology, and Society Studies

The certification in Science, Technology, and Society Studies (STSS) is an interdisciplinary program offered at UW provides an opportunity to systematically explore questions about research ethics and science policy, and the history, social context, and philosophy of the research traditions in STEM fields. Applications for this certificate program are accepted on a rolling basis and are due before the spring quarter of each year. For more information, please visit their website and for program questions, please contact Leah Ceccarelli at cecc [ a t ] uw.edu.

 

Resources for students based at FHCRC:

Fred Hutch Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The DEI office coordinates ongoing efforts to address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Fred Hutch. It is co-lead by Dr. Paul Buckley (pbuckley [ a t ] fredhutch.org), and Dr. Christopher Li (cili [ a t ] fredhutch.org).

Hutch United
Hutch United (hutchunited [ a t ] fredhutch.org) promotes the success of underrepresented and self-identified minority scientists at the Hutch by fostering a supportive and diverse community.

Fred Hutch Diversity Council
The Diversity Council (diversitycouncil [ a t ] fredhutch.org) is committed to serving the Fred Hutch community by giving a voice to racial and ethnic minorities, promoting employee engagement through diversity and inclusion educational initiatives, and celebrating successes through inclusive representation in internal and external communications. Their mission and purpose are to generate various programming that fosters an inclusive environment which helps create a space where all individuals are treated with respect, so that innovation can flourish. Serving as an advisory and coordination group for monthly meetings, quarterly Village Voice, networking opportunities, mentorships, and other events that highlight diversity and inclusion for racial and ethnic minorities.

Fred Hutch Rainbow Employees for Equity (FHREE)
The mission of FHREE (FHREE [ a t ] fredhutch.org) is to support the mission of Fred Hutch by ensuring a safe and inclusive environment for all LGBTQ+ faculty and staff and promote education and awareness among all staff.  Its purpose is to create a community of support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and employees with associated identities or relationships. It aims to create a space where employees feel safe and included in their work environment at Fred Hutch, to increase the cultural competency of straight and cisgender employees and to strengthen the ability of Fred Hutch to serve diverse communities and to accomplish its scientific goals.