EDI Themed Seminars 

To promote EDI within the IMI, a number of themed seminars have been organised:

Dr Matt Page and Oyinkansola Ojo-Aromokudu

'Bad Blood': The Legacy of Tuskegee

University Hospital Birmingham & London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

The event gave a brief introduction to bioethics with reference to Black History Month, followed by a short film on the Tuskegee ‘experiment’.  Oyinkansola and Matt were invited to engage with the audience and address questions including the relevance of Tuskegee for the UK in the 21st century and their personal/professional experience in the field of infectious diseases and minority ethnic groups.  

Dr Matt PageOyinkansola Ojo Aromokudu

Professor David Gillborn

University of Birmingham, School of Education

David gave a seminar on the drivers and impact of racism in educational attainment.  David’s research focuses on race inequalities in education, especially the role of racism as a changing and complex characteristic of the system.

 

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Onalenna Neo, Oumie Kuyateh and Ruth Maganga

University of Birmingham and University of Edinburgh

These three female African scientists gave a talk on their PhD journey, they spoke eloquently about the societal and cultural challenges they face (and continue to overcome).  The feedback for this seminar was overwhelmingly positive, with one colleague stating it is the first time they had actually felt 'seen'.

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Professor Rob De Bruin

University College London (UCL)

As Vice Dean of EDI at UCL, Rob's seminar focused on the successful implementation of EDI initiatives, as the Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology (LMCB) is one of the few institutes to have attained Athena Swan Gold, we welcomed the opportunity to hear Rob’s practical advice about how to embed our own culture of change.Power.Privilege 2

In Rob's talk he covered the Wheel of Power/Privilege, which can help us get a more intricate visualisation of the term “marginalization" the further you are from power, the more ignored and unimportant you feel. However, as you try to place yourself in the different categories, notice how your level of power/marginalization shifts between categories. 

 

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Dr Justin Varney

Director of Public Health, Birmingham City Council 

Justin's talk on LGBTQ+ STEM day discussed inequalities in the workplace as well as Birmingham City Council's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  You can watch Justin's talk on the University of Birmingham's Facebook page. 

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