News & Resources
Meet Five Inspiring Women in Science
February 11, 2022
Juilee Thakar, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology was highlighted in URMC's reflection on International Day of Girls and Women in Science. Read more about her story entering science as a career, her current work, and her advice for young women interested in science in the article, "Meet Five Inspiring Women in Science".
Celebrating Black History Month: Daily Spotlight!
February 1, 2022
Beginning today, and lasting throughout February, URMC will be spotlighting a Medical History Maker every day. Please bookmark and visit the website each day to check out the daily spotlight! Note: the website works best on Chrome, Safari, Edge, or Firefox. It does not work well using Internet Explorer.
Join us in the 21 Day Racial Equity Challenge
February 1, 2022
The SMD Office of Equity and Inclusion, in partnership with the Association of Minority Residents and Fellows, invites you and your colleagues to participate in the 21 Day Racial Equity Challenge! This challenge is intended as a self-guided learning tool for all URMC students, residents, fellows, faculty, and staff who are at all stages and levels of familiarity with DEI initiatives and offers an open and safe environment for discussion and reflection. The challenge consists of 5 major parts and a reflection on each: read, watch, listen, notice, and act. Note: the website works best on Chrome, Safari, Edge, or Firefox. It does not work well using Internet Explorer.
Two nominees from CVBI recognized in Presidential Stronger As One Diversity Awards
January 21, 2022
The Presidential Stronger As One Diversity Awards honor faculty, staff, students, the Greater Rochester Community, and a member of the Board of Trustees whose actions, activities, and/ or accomplishments support our five institutional equity, diversity, and inclusion priorities toward making the University of Rochester a welcoming and inclusive environment.
We are pleased to recognize two members of the Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology who were nominated!
Stefanie 
Fingler, Senior Administrator and Research Program Manager, Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology, University of Rochester Medical Center, who was nominated for the Advocacy and Action Award. The Advocacy and Action Award recognizes staff, postdoctoral fellows, and/or faculty who exemplify excellence in developing and sustaining an infrastructure to support equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Ashwin B. R. Kumar, PhD Candidate, Biochemistry and Biophysics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, who was nominated for the Change Maker Award. The Change Maker Award recognizes a student(s)—undergraduate, graduate, or postdoctoral fellow— and/or student organization that aims to cultivate a fair and just climate, culture, and community with an equitable, diverse, and inclusive lens at the University of Rochester and/or its surrounding communities.
Together we can work toward making the University of Rochester a welcoming and inclusive environment!
Remarks on 2021 Nobel Prize Season
November 29, 2021
Dear Colleagues,
Like every year, this year, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to scientists who have had the privilege to have their groundbreaking work recognized. The Nobel Selection Committee has lauded a variety of great works: from organo-catalysis to temperature and touch sensing to physics of complex systems and natural experiments and causal relationship. The literature prize was even awarded for making an uncompromising understanding of the impact of colonization. These high-impact ideas and work have shaped our understanding of the human body and strategies to improve our quality of life. It is our goal to ensure that these ideas are not only recognized, but also accessible to all, including systemically excluded and exploited populations.
However, as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Council, we must emphasize specific observations and take action. The pool of Nobel Laureates, even in 2021, continues to lack diversity and reflects our present-day use of exclusionary policy and practices. As we all know, honors such as the Nobel Prize are made to recognize decades of consistent high-impact work. It is clear that the lack of representation of women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community is due to the absence of equity, diversity and inclusion at a systemic and institutional level throughout modern history. It is a reflection of our acknowledgment of inequity and prioritization of reform that we recognizing this as problematic.
We join the world in celebrating groundbreaking research and brilliant minds this award season. We also acknowledge the inequities that exist within the scientific community and our own institution that have excluded the recognition and honors deserved by phenomenal scientists from systemically excluded groups. With this, we would like to stress the importance of prioritizing our goals and efforts of increasing equity, diversity and inclusion today, so that these values will be more clearly reflected in the Nobel laureates of the future.
- Microbiology and Immunology DEI Council
Recommended Reading
MBI/CVBI DEI Little Library
Resources and Affinity Groups