Dean's Message - October 12, 2021

Dear GSBS Community,

I had the pleasure last week of attending the AAMC GREAT GRAND meeting where administrators share best practices in biomedical postdoctoral training and graduate education. Many of the participating institutions spoke about themes echoing our activities at GSBS, such as DEI and anti-racism, career development, and wellness and resilience. It was thought-provoking to hear from colleagues and experts across the nation, as well as to share our own successes and challenges.

I was pleased and proud of our leaders, President Joe Biden and Boston Mayor Kim Janey, who signed executive orders last week to mark the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. I hope everyone had a good Indigenous Peoples’ Day and found time to reflect on the debt we owe to our First Nations. I hope many of you will join us for our GSBS Indigenous Peoples’ Day event on Wednesday October 13 at 4:00. Krystal Tsosie, MPH, MA, of the Diné/Navajo Nation will present her exciting work on Indigenous genomic data and health equity. Krystal is a PhD candidate at Vanderbilt and just accepted a faculty position at Arizona State, and we’re excited to (virtually) welcome her to GSBS.

GSBS will also be hosting a workshop, Making Science More Welcoming: A Workshop around Issues of Discrimination in Academia, on Wednesday October 20. All GSBS students are encouraged to register. I particularly hope to see those who don’t identify as underrepresented in attendance, as creating a warm, welcoming community requires work from all of us.

Dan Jay, Dean