Upcoming Events 

Action Items and Points for Reflection and Discussion at the Tea

1) Adopt an inclusive excellence mindset, reject zero-sum thinking.

2) Act with equity and inclusion in spaces we control.  Ask: Who automatically benefits? Who is hurt? What is the long term impact on growth?

3) Re-imagine the way students learn science, especially in intro classes.

4) Get involved in accreditation.

5) Become an ally - encourage leaders in constructive ways.

6) Build strong communities.

Dr. David Asai

David attended Stanford (Chemistry, BS; Biology, MS) and Caltech (Biology, PhD) and was a postdoc and research scientist at UC Santa Barbara.  He was professor at Purdue University and Head of Biological Sciences and then moved after 18.5 to Harvey Mudd College where he was the Stuart Mudd Professor and Chair of Biology His research group studied the structural diversity and functional specialization of dyneins in sea urchin embryos and Tetrahymena thermophila.  In 2008 David joined the Howard Hughes Medical Institute as the Senior Director for Science Education.  This group at HHMI created several initiatives aimed at improving the learning and training environment for all students, including Inclusive Excellence, Driving Change, the new Gilliam graduate fellowships program, and the Scientific Mentorship Initiative.  David retired from HHMI in 2024. David was a member of the NASEM committee that produced the 2023 report Advancing Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in STEMM Organizations.  

David had received recognition with the Bruce Alberts Award for innovative and sustained contributions to science education, the Wm. E. Bennett Award for contributions to civically responsible science  and the inaugural Ambrose Jearld Lectureship on Diversity and Inclusion.  David is currently a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Society for Cell Biology. 

Links to some of Dr. Asai's Work

1. Asai, David. “Inclusive Science Education Is Not Zero-Sum.” Issues in Science and Technology 41, no. 3 (Spring 2025): 22–23. https://doi.org/10.58875/ULDP2057

2. Asai D. Excluded. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education. 2020;21(1):10.1128/jmbe.v21i1.2071. doi: doi:10.1128/jmbe.v21i1.2071.

3. Asai DJ. Race matters. Cell. 2020;181(4):754-7.

4. Asai DJ, Bauerle C. From HHMI: Doubling down on diversity. CBE—Life Sciences Education. 2016;15(3):fe6.

Previous Community Events 

Friday April 5th, 2024 

From the UCSC Genomics Institute:  Reclaiming the Lab Coat: An immersive experience centering justice in research

The Genomics Institute, Diversity Equity and Inclusion committee is planning an exciting half-day event, entitled "Reclaiming the Lab Coat: An immersive experience centering justice in research", on April 5 focusing on examining how we can center principles of justice, equity and inclusion (JEDI) in our research. We welcome participation from the entire campus and hope that members of the Global and Community Health community would like to join us. The event concludes with a poster session/reception at 5pm.

You can get involved by: 

• Registering to attend

• Applying to present a poster

• Requesting to table at the event

The symposium welcomes undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, staff, and faculty to participate in any or all of the event’s four components. The first will be a workshop from 1:30-3:30 led by Genomics Institute Researcher Ann McCartney with her colleague Sadye Paez from Rockefeller University. This workshop will include an interactive activity using lab coats to creatively reflect the community of scientists and participants we want to represent. The workshop will be followed by two fireside chats at 3pm from researchers incorporating JEDI principles in biodiversity and human sequencing research, and then we will join Professor Karen Miga’s BME80G course, “Bioethics in the 21st Century” at 4pm for a presentation by Alice Popejoy addressing lingering biases towards European populations in genomics research. The day will end with a poster session and reception with tabling from campus groups and organizations at 5pm.

Contact GI Faculty Director of Diversity, Sofie Salama (ssalama@ucsc.edu) or GI Asst. Director of Communications Rose Miyatsu (rmiyatsu@ucsc.edu) if you have any questions or accessibility requests for the event.

December 7, 2023 "World Cafe" Town Hall Event