September 15, 2020

We are pleased to announce that the Department Committees on Diversity and Inclusion (DCDI) has assembled into four major subcommittees, and below is a list of each of the subcommittee leaders. Please reach out to them if you have ideas or feedback for their particular subcommittee

Xavier du Maine (Gu Lab) and Caleb Weinreb (Datta Lab) lead the Training Subcommittee, charged with identifying, creating, and implementing trainings for the Department that will encourage a more welcoming and inclusive culture.

Caroline Palavacino-Maggio (Kravitz Lab) and Maya Jay (Datta Lab) lead the In-Reach Subcommittee, charged with researching and implementing new programs to create more connections across our Department.

Bob Datta leads the Outreach Subcommittee, charged with creating new partnerships and programs that reach beyond HMS to encourage more people from diverse backgrounds to join the Department.

Kevin Mastro (Sabatini/Stevens Lab) leads the Education Subcommittee, dedicated to curating and collecting educational resources related to anti-racism, diversity, and inclusion. 

In addition to the subcommittee members listed above, the Core Committee is comprised of: Michael Greenberg, Janine Zieg, Soha Ashrafi, Tari Tan, Jonathan Schneiderman, Chris Reid, Dionnet Bhatti, Chenghua Gu, Rachel Wilson, Gord Fishell, and Dragana Rogulja. The Core Committee will have its first meeting on September 25, 2020. 

Together with USN and the Neurobiology admin team, each of the four subcommittees has met with its constituent members to brainstorm on specifics and delegate a series of new initiatives, including new Department programs for the Fall, new training curricula for staff, students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty, as well as new outreach programs currently under development. There is a lot of work happening, and many of your colleagues are hard at work implementing the many great ideas generated in the past few months. Thanks to the over 40 people who volunteered to be members of each subcommittee, and to the subcommittee leaders who have taken on this important responsibility!