We don’t have the language to describe the brutality of the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many more. We believe Black Lives Matter. We are disgusted by the police brutality that we are observing and that has gone unchecked in this country for too long. We are shocked by the militaristic actions going on right now. It’s hard to focus on anything - and it’s even more horrible we can’t be together in person because of the global pandemic.

As a lab, we are committed to understanding the systemic racism that led to the world being as it is today - and how it contributes to the structures of science being as they are today. We are listing a few of the things we are doing to promote equity. The purpose of this list is to provide actions that other scientists - especially other labs at UCSF - can take:

• We have taken DEI champions training and are committed to attending future trainings
• We want to reduce Racial Profiling and Discrimination at UCSF by enforcing UCSF ID badge rules for all members of our lab. We want security to identify ALL building entrants, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, or role at UCSF. We want UCSF and UCPD to directly partner with communities of color to make our campus a safe and inclusive environment for all UCSF members.
• We participate in the SEP high school intern program
• We have opened up lab meetings and other ‘regularly scheduled events’ to allow for the discussion of recent events, initiated by James Fraser.
• We begin our lab meetings with a “minute for diversity”. We use this time, initiated by Leah Roe, to share something about our backgrounds or a reflection on diversity.
• We recently established a lab compact, compiled by Jen Michaud, and a lab interview procedure with a rubric, compiled by Jen Michaud, Iris Young, Erin Thompson, Roberto Efraín Díaz, and Galen Correy.
• Roberto Efraín Díaz initiated a Diversity Equity and Inclusion book club as part of his Gilliam Fellowship
• We are listening and are committed to continual improvement and sustained action

We welcome feedback on any of the initiatives above and other actions we can take as a lab.