DEIA

DEIA Statement

The Section of Computational Biomedicine is committed to being a space that recognizes, values, supports, and celebrates the diverse perspectives, experiences, and needs of our community: trainees, faculty, staff, collaborators, and patient populations.

We are committed to the following:

To cultivate an environment of respect and understanding for our staff, trainees, and faculty where everyone is heard, valued, and included.
- By discouraging discrimination and bias and challenging stereotypes and prejudices in the workplace and in our interpersonal communications.
- By ensuring accessibility and providing accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
- By actively encouraging all members to contribute their diverse perspectives to our research community.

To recruit, retain, and enthusiastically support staff, trainees, and faculty across the spectrum of diverse backgrounds and abilities.
- By providing opportunities to celebrate what makes members of our community unique.
- By continually assessing and addressing potential biases in hiring and recruitment processes to ensure equitable opportunities.
- By providing mentorship opportunities for established recruitment programs that serve underrepresented groups.

To provide opportunities for our community to engage with issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access, and put this knowledge into practice.
- By holding regular seminars, trainings, and opportunities around DEIA at Boston University, to stay informed about the current DEIA research and best practices.
- By seeking out and engaging with external experts to broaden our scope of knowledge and learn from a wider network of perspectives and expertise.

To make addressing issues of inequity and health disparities a fundamental part of the training we provide to our students and the research we do as a section.
- By continually evaluating the impact of our research through the lens of inequity as we strive to reduce health disparities in the populations impacted by our work.

Committee Members

The DEIA committee meets monthly to discuss and plan upcoming events.

Erin Kane, PhD
Scientific PM and Committee Chair

Kelley Anderson
Trainee

Regan Conrad
Trainee

Donna Gibson
Administrative Director

M. Muzamil Khan
Trainee

Sarah Mazzilli, PhD
Assistant Professor

Roxana Pfefferkorn, PhD
Trainee

DEIA Activities

Special Seminar – Tuesday, January 30, 2024 3:00-4:00pm
Elaine O. Nsoesie, PhD, MS, Associate Professor BU School of Public Health
Topic: Avoiding biases and other complexities on racial inequality using data science and machine learning

CBM Seminars 2023-2024 (ongoing)
The section provides post-seminar refreshments celebrating ethnic/religious festivals/cultural events. Refreshments have included the following:

Challah (Rosh Hashanah)
Baklava and Basbousa (Ramadan)
Apple cider donuts (fall season/Oktoberfest)
Indian snacks (Diwali)

Book Club 2023 – Racism, Not Race

July-September 2023 – Three-part monthly discussion on Racism, Not Race by Alan H. Goodman and Joseph L. Graves Jr.

Special Seminar – March 14, 2023
Dr. Angelique Harris, Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion at BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine lead an interactive conversation about the impact of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in our section, and the role of cultural humility.