CDB Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Resources for Inclusive Excellence
Conversations on Diversity & Inclusion (CoDI) Materials
Get Involved with DEI efforts in CDB
CDB Diversity Statement
Consistent with Vanderbilt University’s commitment to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion across campus, as a department we are taking steps to develop the best environment for all of our members.
We honor the myriad aspects of diversity that all members of our community possess, including but not limited to: race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic circumstance, national origin, geographic background, immigration status, ability and disability, mental health status, physical characteristics, veteran status, political ideology, religious belief, and age.
We also recognize the invaluable contributions those with diverse experiences and perspectives make toward advancing scientific discovery.
We know our department has room for improvement, and to this end, we are establishing a committee to address past shortcomings and guide us toward making meaningful changes to further promote diversity, inclusivity, and belonging.
To support and maintain an understanding community, we have established Conversations on Diversity and Inclusion (CoDI) – a department wide discussion group focused on combating racism, empowering individual differences, and enhancing a sense of belonging. CoDI allows faculty, students, postdoctoral scholars, and staff to engage in difficult discussions and promotes a sense of community within the department.
To enhance awareness of behaviors counter to inclusiveness, we are increasing training resources directly available to all members of our department. These resources include the Fair Play immersive workshop on micro aggressions and biases, and Culturally Aware Mentoring training for faculty. It is an expectation that all faculty will participate in this training.
We value diversity in our department and strive to improve upon efforts to increase representation. Through established groups within our DEI committee, we are actively working to recruit and retain talented underrepresented individuals at all levels.
We are sincerely excited for this opportunity to introduce and continue change in our department with the goal of promoting equity and fostering scientific discovery. Our DEI committee was established with the purpose of advancing the values of our department – being fiercely devoted to science and warmly embracing the diverse group of people and ideas that sustain us.
Resources for Inclusive Excellence at Vanderbilt
Training and Onboarding
- Student Center for Social Justice and Identity Workshops
- Disrupting Everyday Bias workshop through Oracle Learning
- Fair Play
- Culturally Aware Mentoring
- P.R.I.D.E. (Pursuing Respect, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity) Training
Intersectionality and general resources
- Biomedical Research, Education, and Training (BRET) Office
- Center for Teaching guide to increasing inclusivity in the classroom
- Student Center for Social Justice and Identity
- Inclusivity in the Biosciences Association
- Equal Opportunity and Access
- Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Vanderbilt 2019-20 Report
Mental health
- University Counseling Center
- Graduate Life Coach
- Postdoc Wellness Program through the Employee Assistance Program
- Wellness Advisory Council
Accessibility
- Student Access Center
- Equal Opportunity and Access
- Center for Teaching guide to creating accessible learning environments
- Vanderbilt Autism and Neurodiversity Alliance through the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation
- InclusAbility
Racial Justice
- Student Center for Social Justice and Identity
- Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD)
- Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-PhD Bridge Program
- Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center
- Association of Latin American Students
- Latin American and Caribbean Student Association
LGBTQIA+
- Office of LGBTQI Life at the KC Potter Center
- LGBTQI+ Affinity groups
- Gender Affirmation Toolkit For Vanderbilt Employees
Gender and sexual harassment
International scientists
- International Student and Scholar Services
- Global Support Services
- Association of Latin American Students
- Latin American and Caribbean Student Association
- English Language Center
- Tax information
Parents and caregivers
- Parental Leave Policy for graduate students
- Leave policies for postdocs
- Adoption & Surrogacy Assistance Policy
- Working from home while caregiving
- Parenting Group through Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center
- Single Parent Group through Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center
Veterans and military families
First-generation scientists
DEI initiatives from partner departments and programs with CDB
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Physiology and Biophysics (MPB)
- Information Technology iDAB
- Vanderbilt School of Medicine Basic Sciences Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
(If you know of a useful group or resource to support diversity, equity, and inclusion at Vanderbilt that is not yet listed, please contact us to have it included)
Funding to Promote and Support Diversity
Funding at Vanderbilt
- Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) at Vanderbilt
- Graduate School Scholarships at Vanderbilt
External Funding
- NIH Diversity Supplements_Grants
- NIH Diversity Supplements_RO1
- MOSAIC K99/R00 from NIGMS
- BRAIN K99/R00 from NINDS
- NIH F31 to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research_Fellowships
- NIH F31 to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research_PA-21-052
- NINDS F99/K00
- NSF INCLUDES
- HHMI Gilliam Fellowships
- HHMI Hanna H. Gray Fellowships
- List of NIH Diversity-related FOAs
Conversations on Diversity and Inclusion (CoDI) Materials
- March 2022: Unethical AI and machine learning
- February/March 2022: Diversity and inclusion forms in academic publishing
- November 2021: The importance of language choices in the context of diversity and inclusion
- October 2021: The differences between tokenism and representation:
Casting With Persons of Color: Avoiding Tokenism and Embracing Representation
‘The Simpsons’ To ‘The Problem With Apu’: Drop Dead - September 2021: Where We Come From: By Any Other Name
- Summer 2021: Ijeoma Oluo, So you want to talk about race
- May 2021: Raven J. Peterson, “We need to address ableism in science”
Further reading:
The Spoon Theory by Christine Miserandino
Institute for Accessible Science at Purdue
Web Accessibility in Mind
Ramp, J. Service dog handlers in STEM: diversity and inclusion efforts need work to remove barriers. Nat Rev Endocrinol 17, 1–2 (2021).
Tuosto, K., Johnston, J.T., Connolly, C., Lo, C., Sanganyado, E., Winter, K.A., Roembke, T., Richter, W.E., Isaacson, K.J., Raitor, M., Kosanic, A., Bessone, L., Heim, A.B., Srivastava, P., Hughes, P.W., Aamodt, C.M. Making science accessible. Science 367 (6473), 34-35 (2020).
Disability Visibility Project founded and directed by Alice Wong
Crip Camp, 2020 documentary
- April 2021: Edric Huang, “Understanding Structural Racism in the U.S. Government: Immigration Law”
- March 2021: Katherine Schulten, ed. “Teens on a Year That Changed Everything”
- February 2021: Toby Luckhurst, “Wilmington 1989: When white supremacists overthrew a US government”
- January 2021: Udodiri R. Okwandu, “A Study in Medical and Scientific Racism in America”
Further reading:
Killing the black body – Dorothy Roberts
Medical apartheid – Harriet A. Washington
Body and soul – Alondra Nelson
Fit to be tied – Rebecca M. Kluchin
Examining Tuskegee – Susan M. Reverby
Race and Medicine – Produced by Soren Wheeler
Black America Has Reason to Question Authorities – Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
- December 2020: This American Life, Episode 716 “Trail of Tears”
- November 2020: Revisionist History, “Miss Buchanan’s Period of Adjustment”
- October 2020: Dolly Chugh, “Use your everyday privilege to help others“