Diversity Equity and Inclusion

Diversity and Inclusion Working Group (DIWG) in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics

 

About Us

The mission of the DIWG is to promote education, outreach, advocacy, and strategy on issues of diversity and inclusion within our department and the JHU School of Medicine more broadly.  As scientists, we believe in the power and merit of data and ideas.  In the United States, the data show large inequities in educational opportunities, household wealth, incarceration rates, access to quality healthcare and food, and access to positions of influence. These inequities are also present in our universities, graduate programs, postdoctoral cohorts and faculty lunch rooms. As scientists and citizens, we must understand the structural forces and barriers that are responsible for these data so that we can address them.  In sum, we have work to do.

A core component of our mission is to convene monthly meetings with the MBG community, which take the form of seminars, workshops, listening sessions and/or small group discussions.  Some of these sessions involve background material for viewing or reading.

Current Initiatives

  • Coordinating a new DEI seminar series across the basic science departments within the School of Medicine.
  • Ongoing departmental group discussions on issues of diversity and inclusion.
  • Generating a resource to streamline laboratory access for young and underprivileged researchers.
  • Re-evaluating recruitment and hiring practice with the intent to spear-head departmental and IBBS-wide recommendations.

— WE ARE CURRENTLY RECRUITING NEW DIWG MEMBERS —

Email diwg@lists.johnshopkins.edu for information or to get involved!

Previous Seminars and Discussions

Date Speaker(s) Topic
9/17/20 DIWG “13th” – Small group discussion
10/29/20 Dr. Roxanna Harlow (Higher Learning, Inc.) & Dr. Shawntay Stocks (JHU Center for Social Concern) Cultural Competency/Humility workshop
11/12/20 Dr. Jennifer Cohen (Stanford, MBG Ph.D. alum) Beyond Diversity, A Conversation About Inclusion & Belonging Within Biomedical Training Programs
12/10/20 Dr. Kathy Wilson (JHM Cell Biology) Less talk, more action: 20+ years opening doors to research
1/7/21 Dr. Marcus Lambert (Weill Cornell) Promoting an Inclusive Scientific Workforce: Factors that Affect Career Choices
3/4/21 Dr. Lawrence Brown (pre-recorded) “Mapping Baltimore Apartheid” – African American History in Maryland and Beyond
3/18/21 DIWG Discussion on Housing Descrimination in Baltimore
4/8/21 Dorian McCoy (URG retention in academia) “Creating an Inclusive and Multiculturally Competent Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics (MBG)”