Diversity magazine honors Binghamton University’s Watson College Scholars Program

Binghamton University’s Watson College Scholars Program has received the 2022 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education.

MILLION DOLLAR DONATION FROM OTUSKA AND VISTERRA ESTABLISHES KIDNEYCURE DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND JUSTICE RESEARCH SCHOLAR GRANT

The KidneyCure Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Research Scholar Grant, which was established with a $1 million donation from Otsuka and Visterra that the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) will match, will be awarded every other year beginning in 2023.

Trials of Alcohol Use Disorder Treatments Routinely Exclude Sex, Gender, Race, and Ethnicity from Consideration in Outcomes

The manifestation of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and its social, health, and psychological implications depend in part on patient demographics. Yet researchers routinely exclude those demographics from analyses of non-medicinal AUD treatment trials, a review of studies has found. Consequently, little is known about how sex, gender, race, and ethnicity influence the effectiveness of those treatments, or which treatments are indicated — or not — for specific patients and communities. This is despite the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act in 1993 requiring that NIH-funded studies include diversity of sex/gender and race/ethnicity in their participant samples and analysis. Problematic alcohol use, which has high prevalence and low treatment rates, is a leading contributor to preventable death and disease. Non-pharmacological treatments include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing (MI), contingency management, twelve-step programs, and more. Inequalitie

Linking diversity at performing arts nonprofits with marketing, funding, location

Researchers tracked changes in the racial makeup and income levels of customers at two dozen nonprofit performing arts organizations over seven years. They then investigated how marketing and other factors, like location and funders, impacted what they define as customer diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

UCI Esports announces fall addition of Valorant team

Irvine, Calif., July 25, 2022 – The University of California, Irvine will expand its 5-year-old esports program this fall by adding a Valorant team to its existing Overwatch and League of Legends teams. Valorant is a first-person hero shooter video game developed and published by Riot Games that was originally released in June 2020.

Department of Energy Announces $3.6 Million for Research Traineeships to Broaden and Diversify Nuclear Physics

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded more than $3.6 million with a focus on broadening and diversifying the nuclear and particle physics research communities through research traineeships for undergraduates from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). The goal of this program is to increase the recruitment and retention of students from groups under-represented in nuclear physics and to create new partnerships with HBCUs and MSIs. Only by accessing the broadest possible pool of potential physicists can the community produce the best possible science.

Mount Sinai Receives Prestigious Honor From American Hospital Association for Advancing Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity in Patient Care

Mount Sinai Health System named winner of 2022 Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award

Seven UCI faculty members named Hellman Fellows for 2022-23

Irvine, Calif., July 8, 2022 — Seven assistant professors at UCI will receive Hellman Fellowships, which are bestowed annually to support research by junior faculty. They join an elite group of 70 UCI Hellman Fellows since 2013, when the Hellman Fellows Fund established the program here. The program began in 1995 at UC Berkeley and UC San Diego and has since expanded organically to all UC institutions.

UCI is founding member of Hispanic Serving Research Universities alliance

Irvine, Calif., June 9, 2022 — The University of California, Irvine is a founding member of the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities, a foundation of 20 of the nation’s top research universities which are partnering to increase opportunity for those historically underserved by higher education. The HSRU Alliance aims to achieve two key goals by 2030: Double the number of enrolled Hispanic doctoral students and increase by 20 percent the Hispanic professoriate in alliance universities.

Disparities in opioid treatment access remain for women, Black and Hispanic people

Buprenorphine is a prescription approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that effectively treats opioid dependence or addiction. But women, as well as Black and Hispanic populations, do not have equal access to this potentially lifesaving medication, new Mayo Clinic research finds.

The space between us

Tree beta diversity — a measure of site-to-site variation in the composition of species present within a given area — matters more for ecosystem functioning than other components of biodiversity at larger scales. The finding has implications for conservation planning.

Sherry Main is named vice chancellor of strategic communications & public affairs

Irvine, Calif., May 26, 2022 — Sherry L.K. Main, an accomplished higher education communications leader with a proven commitment to diversity and inclusion, has been named vice chancellor for strategic communications & public affairs at the University of California, Irvine, following a nationwide search. She will assume the post on June 1.

Affirmative action bans had ‘devastating impact’ on diversity in medical schools, UCLA-led study finds

In states with bans on affirmative action programs, the proportion of students from underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups in U.S. public medical schools fell by more than one-third by five years after those bans went into effect.

Brains and brawn helped crows and ravens take over the world

Crows and ravens are well known for their black color and the harsh “caw” sound they make. They are intelligent birds that use tools, solve complex abstract problems and speak a volume of words. But what is less well appreciated is how diverse they are. Their diversity is accompanied by their ability to live all over the world in a variety of habitats.

FAU Among Three Finalists for National Degree Completion Award

The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) selected Florida Atlantic University to be one of three finalists for its national Degree Completion Award. A winner will be selected during the APLU’s annual meeting that takes place Nov. 15-17.

UCI receives 5-year, $5 million CIRM award for training of diverse researchers

The University of California, Irvine has received a five-year, $5 million award from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to support a comprehensive doctoral, postdoctoral and clinical researcher training program to prepare the current and next generation of leaders in stem cell biology, gene therapy and regenerative medicine.

Long Island Institutions Model the Future of Diverse STEM Education

In pursuit of diversifying the STEM education system, academic and research institutions on Long Island have come together to support emerging STEM professors from underrepresented minority groups. The newly formed collaboration, called the Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) Predominately Undergraduate Institutions (PUI), includes Stony Brook University, Suffolk County Community College, Farmingdale State College, and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Moffitt Participating in National Pilot Project to Increase Diversity in Clinical Trials

Moffitt Cancer Center is participating in a national pilot project being conducted by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC). The pilot project is testing a research site self-assessment tool and an implicit bias training program focused on increasing racial and ethnic diversity among cancer treatment trial participants.

UCI to welcome inaugural Doctor of Pharmacy class at White Coat Ceremony

Irvine, Calif., Sept. 14, 2021 – The inaugural class of Pharm.D. students at the University of California, Irvine will begin their journey Sept. 24 at a White Coat Ceremony, a rite of passage marking the transition from the study of preclinical to clinical health sciences. The white coat is universally recognized as a symbol of the commitment students are making in joining a trusted health profession.

How do state laws affect hospital nurse staffing? Study compares three approaches

Across the nation, states are grappling with alternative approaches to address the heightened problem of low nurse staffing in hospitals. A new national study finds that while legislation to mandate hospital nurse-to-patient staffing ratios is associated with a significant increase in nurse staffing, two other popular approaches – mandating public reporting of nurse staffing levels and hospital staffing committees that include frontline nurses – have had little or no impact on nurse staffing levels. The study appears in a special supplement to the October issue of Medical Care focused on Health Workforce Equity. Medical Care is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

Columbia University and Pfizer to Establish Clinical Trials Diversity Initiative

Columbia University Irving Medical Center, its Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Pfizer Inc. have established the Columbia-Pfizer Clinical Trials Diversity Initiative, with the aim of reducing health disparities by increasing the participation of underrepresented minorities in clinical trials and enhancing the diversity of clinical researchers.

UCI is among inaugural US cohort to adopt Okanagan Charter

Irvine, Calif., Sept. 1, 2021 – The University of California, Irvine is among the inaugural U.S. cohort of eight “health-promoting universities and colleges” to adopt the Okanagan Charter and will join the others in a virtual signing ceremony today. The Okanagan Charter calls on institutions of higher education to infuse health and well-being into the campus environment and lead health promotion action and collaboration locally and globally.

Equity in STEM can be driven by scientific societies

In a new paper published in The Anatomical Record, authors Dr. Melissa A. Carroll (The George Washington University, School of Medicine and Health Sciences), Shawn Boynes (American Association for Anatomy), Dr. Loydie A. Jerome-Majewska (McGill University), and Dr. Kimberly S. Topp (University of California San Francisco), discuss how scientific societies can be drivers of change in academia, focusing on the American Association for Anatomy as a case study.

Student equity scholar Frances Contreras named dean of UCI School of Education

Irvine, Calif., Aug. 18, 2021 — Frances Contreras, who is widely acclaimed for her research on academic diversity and access from preschool to the Ph.D., has been appointed dean of the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine, following a nationwide search. She will assume her new role on Jan. 1, 2022. Contreras is currently associate vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion, as well as professor of education studies, at the University of California, San Diego.

Fellowship directors could be key to increasing diversity among cardiologists, Wayne State-led study shows

Underrepresented minorities, specifically African American, Native American, Hispanic and/or Pacific Island physicians comprise only about 12% of the cardiology workforce. There are cardiology fellowship programs in the U.S. that have never trained an underrepresented minority fellow until recently, said study author Arif Musa, a fourth-year medical student at the Wayne State University School of Medicine.

Advanced practice nurse and philosopher Mark Lazenby named dean of UCI nursing school

Irvine, Calif., July 27, 2021 – Mark Lazenby, advanced practice nurse and philosopher, has been appointed dean of the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing at the University of California, Irvine, following a nationwide search. He will assume his new role on Jan. 1, 2022. Lazenby is currently a professor of nursing and associate dean for faculty and student affairs in the School of Nursing at the University of Connecticut, where he’s also an affiliate professor of philosophy.

FAU Nursing Faculty Member Receives NIH K01 Grant for Breast Cancer Research

Tarsha Jones, Ph.D., principal investigator and an assistant professor of nursing at FAU’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, has received the National Institute of Health (NIH) K01 Career Development Award, a five-year, $772,525 award for a project titled, “Decision Support for Multigene Panel Testing and Family Risk Communication among Racially/Ethnically Diverse Young Breast Cancer Survivors.”

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Accelerates Drive to Diversity, Announces First Biomedical Laureates

Less than eight months after unveiling its Biomedical Laureates Program, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai announced today the first Laureates to join its academic faculty, delivering on an institutional commitment to drive diversity and enhance mentorship opportunities. Both Laureates will start in July.

Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research Issue Features Undergraduate Research in Community Colleges

The spring 2021 issue of Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research (SPUR), the academic journal of the Council on Undergraduate Research, focuses on dynamic programs and initiatives advancing undergraduate research in community colleges.