How Virtual Convenings Can Enhance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

February 24, 2022

Our latest guest post describes the NIH Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity Office’s commitment to hold all seminars, conferences, and meetings entirely online throughout 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic-induced shift to online events has led to a growing body of research on the impact of virtual scientific convenings. A review of this literature suggests that an entirely or primarily virtual format can enhance meeting access, diversity, and climate.

New NIH Administrative Supplements Available to Support Diversity Mentorship

February 9, 2022

I am pleased to announce the availability of a new NIH administrative supplement that recognizes the crucial role outstanding mentors play in fostering future leaders in the biomedical research enterprise. Qualified investigators can now submit proposals in response to the Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity (COSWD)-led Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) NOT-OD-22-057: Administrative Supplements to Recognize Excellence in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Mentorship. Proposals are due by April 7, 2022.

UNITE Wants to Learn from You: Join an Upcoming Listening Session

December 14, 2021

The UNITE initiative was established to identify and eliminate structural racism in biomedical research, and was publicly unveiled February 26, 2021, at a special meeting of the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD). On Friday, December 10, 2021, UNITE committee members provided an update to the ACD on progress and future directions for the initiative. How can you become involved in this important initiative? UNITE invites external stakeholders from the biomedical research community who work in diverse settings to participate in its online listening sessions. Sessions began on December 1 and continue through February 2022.

Reaffirming NIH’s Commitment to Workforce Diversity

November 3, 2021

Diversity is inextricably tied to the success of the NIH mission, thus ensuring diversity within the extramural biomedical research workforce is of utmost importance. We are aware that NIH’s recent decision to rescind a “Notice of Special Interest” (or NOSI) – intended solely to call attention to the presence of a specific funding opportunity announcement and encourage researchers from underrepresented groups to apply – may have caused some to question this commitment. While the spirit of the NOSI was laudable, it may have led to an impression that by linking demographic characteristics to grant proposals, applications supporting scientists from underrepresented groups would be automatically prioritized for funding. Read on for more.