Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Resources

Diversity Resources

Below is a list of diversity-related resources that highlight the complex issues around diversity as they intersect with the work and structure of research and research oversight programs. These resources may be useful for improving diversity practices at your institution, fostering discussion among staff and stakeholders, and identifying areas for change.

Relevant content is periodically ​ added to this list. If you know of a resource we should list here or have a concrete suggestion for future PRIM&R diversity efforts, please email us your feedback.

Our blog, Ampersand, covers a range of topics relevant to the biomedical, behavioral, and social science research enterprise. Use the link to see all posts with the diversity tag.

Ampersand
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  • Innovations A: Innovations in Global Settings. Moderator: Nancy E. Kass. Panelists: Marwan T. Felaefel, American University in Cairo, Jerome F. Pierson, Office of Clinical Research Policy and Regulatory Operations, Division of Clinical Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Annet Nakaganda, BSc, MPH, Uganda Cancer Institute
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Institutional Animal Care & Use Conferences

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Does Diversity Matter for Health? Experimental Evidence from Oakland. Marcella Alsan, Owen Garrick (PRIM&R board member), Grant C. Graziani
News coverage: Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, Stanford Health Policy

People & Perspectives (P&P) is a digital story-telling library featuring stories of those working in the human subjects and animal care and use enterprise.

  • Warren K. Ashe, PhD, retired associate dean for research at Howard University and former PRIM&R Board member, describes his early childhood growing up in the segregated south. He discusses his time in the military and his journey through undergraduate studies at Howard University, to a job at the NIH where he became the first African-American senior scientific advisor.
  • Dr. Ashe continues his story by describing his time in the administration at Howard University, his quest to earn a PhD and his creation of a functional IRB from scratch. He served as a federal compliance consultant for site visits and shares his philosophy on helping resource-poor institutions. Dr. Ashe comments on his time on the PRIM&R Board and ruminates on life challenges and the frames of mind that continue to guide his decision-making.
  • A. Cornelius Baker, deputy coordinator for Affected Populations and Civil Society Leadership for the US Department of State's Office of the US Global AIDS Coordinator, says that “a liberal arts education brings dexterity of mind.” This educational background has been the key to his success as a subject advocate and proponent of community involvement in research
  • Laura Ruse Brosch, RN, MSN, PhD, director of the Office of Research Protections at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, discusses how enlisted subjects are carefully supported to ensure the voluntariness of their participation.
  • Dr. Ruth Fischbach, PhD, MPE, director of Center for Bioethics at Columbia University, describes the many phases of her life and the studies that lead to her present role as professor and director of the Center for Bioethics at Columbia University. She shares her insight into controversial issues of embryonic stem cell research and Asperger/Autism spectrum diagnoses categories.
  • Dr. William Freeman, MD, MPH, CIP, human protections administrator and program director of the Center for Health at Northwest Indian College and former PRIM&R Board member, describes his introduction to Indian Health Services and his long career promoting cultural competence within the world of clinical research design, review and process.
  • Natalie L. Mays, BA, LATG, CPIA, director of the IACUC and IBC at NYU Langone Medical Center and PRIM&R Board member, talks about how her love of science took her into the laboratory. She was introduced to AALAS at Case Western and went on to direct the IACUC and IBC programs at NYULMC.
  • Judy Norsigian, co-founder of Our Bodies, Ourselves, discusses a growing concern that research involving female hormones may be affected by toxins in the environment.
  • Karen Rothenberg, Marjorie Cook Professor of Law & Founding Director of the Law and Health Care Program at the University of Maryland (Carey), discusses the definitions of "community" affected how genetic testing was introduced to Jewish populations.
  • Sandra Whiteshield, IRB member at Regional Health, describes how her mother, as a Native American teenager, was taken out of school for a "shot" and a year later for a "check up". No information was given or permissions received. Forty-five years later her mother wondered if health issues were related to the mysterious injection.

Why Are Minority Groups Less Likely to Participate In Research?

Giselle Corbie-Smith and Margo Michaels

Today’s episode of More Than Meets the IRB includes segments from a panel discussion entitled “Increasing the Public’s Understanding of Clinical Research” and focuses on the question of why minority groups are less likely to participate in research.

PRIM&R has scholarship programs to assist individuals with the costs associated with attending our annual Conferences.

Community (Unaffiliated/Non-Scientific) IRB Member Scholarship Program

The Community (Unaffiliated/Non-Scientific) IRB Member Scholarship Program aims to ensure that community members and non-affiliated IRB members receive educational and professional development opportunities equal to those of their colleagues. The program supports interested community members committed to advancing ethical research practices and provides a networking base among collegial practitioners and peers.

Institutional Capacity Building Scholarship Program

A number of small, underfunded institutions of higher education in the United States need, but do not have, fully functioning IRBs or human research protections programs (HRPPs). Many of these institutions serve primarily minority populations with educational disparities, such as historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), and tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). Others are health institutions serving minority populations with significant health disparities, such as community clinics, regional or area Indian health boards, and tribal governments. Additionally, many small US colleges, universities and community organizations are called upon to engage in research with animals but struggle to form and/or support their institutional animal care and use committees (IACUCs) due to funding constraints. Almost all such institutions have significantly fewer resources than their larger peer institutions, which can make keeping up on and implementing best HRPP or IACUC practices a challenge. This scholarship program offers a funded educational opportunity to a limited number of teams of two representatives of such institutions, with the goal of building capacity and fostering change at their home institutions.

Global Research Scholarship Program

PRIM&R has created a limited number of scholarships for qualified representatives from low-and middle-income countries to attend the AER Conferences. In the years it is offered, the Global Research Scholarship Program is open to those who have established themselves in the research ethics profession as well as those who are in graduate school, are pursuing a doctorate, or who have less than five years' experience in their professional field.

PRIM&R's Diversity Statement

Diversity Advisory Group

PRIM&R's Diversity Advisory Group is an advisory body that works to advance PRIM&R's goal of promoting a diverse and inclusive environment, advising the PRIM&R staff on strategies for fostering a membership community where differences can flourish, and works to raise the profile of diversity as an issue that matters to the broader research oversight field.

Since it was created in 2011, the Diversity Advisory Group has helped PRIM&R determine the baseline diversity of our membership by standardizing a consistent set of demographic questions, created and executed diversity sessions at eight annual conferences, promoted our core value of diversity through our blog Ampersand, advised on the organization's diversity statement, expanded our Institutional Capacity Building Scholarship Program to the IACUC conference, and offered their expertise to conference faculty to ensure presentations and case studies adequately address issues of diversity.

Meet the Members