Update from The Biostats Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB) Committee

The Biostats Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB) Committee

The Biostats Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB) Committee is committed to fostering an inclusive environment within the Department of Biostatistics. The committee actively promotes EDIB by examining departmental culture and experience, identifying strategies to strengthen programs and initiatives, and implementing and improving trainings and resources. Our goal is to enhance the educational and professional experiences of all department members, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to contribute and thrive.

This year, we had ten (10) members and three (3) sub-committees, members included:

Shaina Andelman – Staff
Priti Thareja – Staff
Viola Fanfani – Postdoc
Kate Shutta – Postdoc
Carmen Rodriguez – PhD candidate
Veda Sripada – Master’s student
Rebecca Hurwitz – Master’s student
Heather Mattie – Faculty
Junwei Lu – Faculty
Christoph Lange – Faculty

Each subcommittee was charged with an EDIB goal, established in collaboration with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. See below for what we worked on for the 2023-2024 year:

  1. Leadership and institutional systems: This subcommittee’s purpose was to gather information around resources and support for students taking the qualifying exam. We initiated discussions with the department to develop a survey, and this work will transition to the PhD Committee, to be continued into AY24-25.
  2. Learning Culture at Harvard Chan: Through the Biostats Diversity and Inclusion Group (BDIG), we hosted educational and community-building events for the department.  Examples of events from this year included: Money Chat (workshop on financial literacy), BDIG and Career Development (alumni panels), BDIG Talk Series (Dr. Melody Goodman’s talk on “Developing Pathways to Increase Racial/Ethnic Diversity in Biostatistics and Data Science”), and more!
  3. Diversity of our people and success: This subcommittee aimed to implement a mentorship program to promote belonging and inclusion by creating spaces where students can connect with peers and/or postdocs and faculty members to seek guidance, foster relationships, and build support systems. This goal is still underway, and we welcome everyone interested in mentorship and leadership.

If you are a department member interested in sharing your thoughts about our work, have suggestions for 2024-2025 goals, or would like to join our committee, please fill out this survey.