Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility

My role in the Department and School is as a basic science educator. Throughout my teaching activities, I highlight topics focused on equity with respect to gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, and other marginalized identities. For example, I developed a health equity curriculum with a basis in the understanding of human genetic variation. By beginning with this foundational content and extending into the applied realms of inclusion in genetics research and genetic testing, I help students see the potential harms that result when antiracist practices are not implemented from the outset of a given endeavor. Through my extensive work in diversity, equity, and inclusion, I have also become a champion for our campus antiracism and gender and sexual diversity efforts in curricular design, admissions, and most recently through my affiliation with the Ibram X. Kendi Center for Antiracist Research. Our antiracist curriculum reform process is featured in a 2022 article in Academic Medicine, on which I am senior author. With respect to graduate education, I teach a class (GMS GE 706) focused on deconstructing systemic bias by helping students to explore the relationship between race, ethnicity, ancestry, sex, gender, ability status, and identity. I also direct a new program, the Emerging Scientific Scholars Program, designed to provide mentoring and support for PhD students from backgrounds that have been historically excluded from science.

Nationally, I am the Past-President and Chair of DEI for the Association of Professors of Human and Medical Genetics, an organization that brings together clinical genetics educators across North America. As President, an important area of focus for me has been giving our community of educators the tools to create inclusive, antiracist educational spaces. Towards this end, I have been publishing, sponsoring workshops, creating shared curricula, and providing consultation for colleagues engaged in equity projects at their institutions. I have also been working to further efforts in inclusive genetics education and practice via my involvement in initiatives through key partner organizations. For example, I have spoken at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Roundtable on Genomics and Precision Health on the topic of equity in genomic medicine. Similarly, I served as an expert panelist for the Race, Genetic Ancestry, and Disease Risk session in the University of California, San Francisco UC-wide virtual event series on Racism and Race: The Use of Race in Medicine and Implications for Health Equity. My work on the impact of bias towards individuals with disabilities on genetic testing practices was also featured in the 2021 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Symposium sponsored by the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics. In addition, I am serving on the Advisory Board of the Human Genetics Scholars Initiative, a program sponsored by the American Society of Human Genetics that seeks to diversify the scientific workforce. Finally, I was in conversation with Angela Saini, author of Superior: The Return of Race Science, in a special seminar broadcast nationally by the National Human Genome Research Institute in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and far too many others.

I am also under contract with the University of California Press to write a book tentatively titled Where Biology Ends and Bias Begins: Lessons on Belonging from Our DNA, expected in late 2024 or early 2025.

These selected activities demonstrate the breadth of my commitment to the causes of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. This work of justice embodies both my professional and personal values and motivates me on a daily basis as an area of critical importance for the health and well-being of our society.

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In addition to these self-described keywords below, a list of MeSH based concepts is available here.

administration
genetics
genomics
graduate education
medical education
diversity, equity, and inclusion

Available to Mentor as: (Review Mentor Role Definitions):

• Advisor
• Career Mentor
• Diversity Mentor
• Education Mentor
• Research / Scholarly Mentor