EDI Resources

We want the best and brightest to join Duke Integrative Immunobiology! To support this goal, our EDI committee seeks to find simple ways that we can make meaningful improvements to our training environment by increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion within our department. One step we have taken is to increase visible signage within our department, by creating our own “Safe Space” Placard, which states that all people are welcome and respected within our department. This placard is a public signal that communicates that our department is accepting, welcoming, and full of allies. We welcome people of diverse ethnicities, races, mental health conditions, different physical abilities, diverse countries of origin, different religions, occupations, gender identities, orientations, and from a range of ages. We encourage everyone to post this at their desk and/or lab. This is a simple step that we believe shows how welcoming our department truly is!

Coming out is not a one-time event. It’s a risk queer people take in every new setting. There is only so much “scoping out” of the environment you can do in a limited-time first meeting without outing yourself. Having passive signals demonstrating that the environment you are in is accepting, welcoming, and full of allies makes a really big difference in being able to successfully evaluate how safe an environment is.

Download the Safe Space Placard 

Download the Safe Space Vertical Image

Racism has been a problem in our country since its inception. Although progress has been made, there is still much left to do. One thing that each of us can do to improve our own understanding of racism and how it can insidiously sneak into our daily lives is to learn how microaggressions manifest and how they perpetuate racism and other forms of exclusion. We strive to make Duke Integrative Immunobiology a welcoming environment where the best and the brightest can come together to foster scientists and staff to achieve their potential.

We encourage everyone to learn about the concepts of systemic racism and microaggression. Here is a collection of resources that each of us can engage in:

• From the Duke SOM Office of Diversity and Inclusion
• From the Duke Department of Population Health Sciences
• Learn more about microaggressions via this short 8 minute NPR story
• "Calling in” is a way to turn difficult conversations into productive ones. Start to learn about the practice of calling in from Loretta J Ross
• Bias can be amplified in the intersection of multiple areas like race, gender, and sexual orientation. Learn more about intersectionality of bias and how it is experienced in day-to-day life from Kimberlé Crenshaw

NOGLSTP: National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals

Organization with the purpose of empowering LGBTQ+ individuals in STEM by providing education, advocacy, professional development, networking, and peer support. Additionally, they aim to educate all communities regarding scientific, technological, and medical concerns of LGBTQ+ people.
 

oSTEM (Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

With over 100 student chapters at colleges/universities and professional chapters in cities across the United States and abroad, oSTEM is the largest chapter-based organization focused on LGBTQ+ people in STEM. Duke University has an oSTEM chapter.

Pride in STEM

International non-profit with the goal of raising the profile of LGBTQ+ people in STEM as well as to highlight the struggles LGBTQ+ people in STEM often face.

Out to Innovate

Biennial career summit hosted by NOGLSTP. This summit provides educational opportunities and creates a supportive environment for LGBTQ professionals to connect.

GLMA (Gay & Lesbian Medical Association)

World's largest and oldest association of LGBTQ healthcare professionals. GLMA's membership includes approximately 1,000 member physicians, nurses, advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, researchers and academics, behavioral health specialists, health profession students and other health professionals.

We encourage you to prioritize your mental well-being, as it is a crucial component of your overall success and happiness. Our university offers a range of resources designed to support you on this journey, including counseling services, mental health workshops, and peer support networks. Seeking help is a sign of strength and self-awareness, not weakness, and it's important to remember that you are not alone in this process.

We are here to support you every step of the way, and reaching out for assistance can make a significant difference in managing stress and enhancing your academic and personal life. To this end, we have compiled a list of resources to help you quickly find the help you need.

DOWNLOAD THE LIST

The EDI committee has assembled a guide on how to become established as a graduate student in the US. This guide was created by compiling a wide variety of independent resources from across Duke, including the Duke International Student Center and Duke Visa Services. It is intended to be a starting reference point to help students become established at Duke. If you have any further questions beyond what will be provided in this guide, please reach out to the Director of Graduate Studies, the Director of Graduate Studies Assistant, the Duke International Student Center, or Duke Visa Services.

DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE

We strive to counteract exclusion and show LGBTQ+ people at large that Duke University and our Department of Integrative Immunobiology value inclusion.

We encourage you to add your pronouns to both your email signature and zoom name. The primary impetus for this is to show our colleagues in the trans community that we are making an effort to respect their proper pronouns, and to welcome them into our community. However, we believe that pronoun display makes a much greater impact beyond the trans community by signaling to the full LGBTQ+ community that you are open to including them as well. One simple step on our quest for inclusion can have a big impact!

Get instructions on how to add pronouns to your Outlook and Zoom signatures plus additional pronoun resources.

Download Instructions

There are several gender neutral bathrooms found across Duke’s campus. The Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity compiles information on where all of these bathrooms can be found, with an interactive map, on their website (scroll down to the “Gender Inclusive Restrooms on Campus” heading). The CSGD will have the most updated information on gender inclusive restrooms throughout campus. For ease, here are the gender inclusive restroom locations on the Medical Campus, where our Department is most active.

There are a surprising number of colorblind people who want to read your papers! So that everyone can appreciate your wonderful science, we suggest using colorblind friendly palettes for your data. One great resource is Coloring for Colorblindness, which not only has 3 suggested colorblind friendly color palettes available but also shows what those colors look like for the three most common forms of colorblindness. Another resource is Introduction to Color Schemes.  We have assembled 3 colorblind friendly palettes from these websites, and provide them here with HEX and RGB codes.

Most applications such as Prism allow you to create a custom color palette to be able to easily use these colors across all your data, and even have pre-made colorblind friendly color palettes to apply to your data. Image J/FIJI also has options for changing the pseudo color of IF to avoid having red and green for your images. 

Using colorblind friendly palettes for your data will help everyone, from department members at weekly WIP to strangers reading published papers to better appreciate your amazing science!

Download the Palettes