The Stevens Lab is a neurobiology research laboratory located at Boston Children's Hospital and The Stanley Center at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. The mission of the Stevens Lab is to drive fundamental discoveries about neuro-immune interactions during healthy development and disease, and to mentor the next generation of scientific leaders in an inspiring, collaborative training environment.  

 

The Stevens Lab believes that diversity of perspective, background and ability is key to creativity and innovation in science. We welcome trainees and scientists who are from underrepresented minorities (URM) to join our lab and thrive in our team-oriented culture that values excellence, rigor and respect. We pledge to foster an inclusive training environment that values and supports our peers who are women, immigrants, LGBTQI+, people with disabilities, and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC).     

 

The institutional and systemic racism that pervades academia and medicine is unacceptable and we are not willing to be complacent participants in this paradigm. 

 

To address these issues, we fiercely advocate for a culture of equity and representation. We are actively working to unlearn our implicit biases, undo systems of injustice and inequity in STEM and to increase representation of URM in science. We believe that fighting racism, implicit bias and discrimination should be approached through education, advocacy and outreach. The entire team at the Stevens lab is dedicated to change both in and out of the lab. To this end we are committed to the following: 

 

EDUCATION: To actively contribute to the anti-racism movement and associated obstacles facing URM, we must be prepared to learn. In the following points, our focus will be listening to the leaders of these movements as we find our voice:

 

• Educate ourselves about the impact of racism and the many ways in which it manifests subconsciously and on different scales (micro- and macroaggressions)

• Educate ourselves about our own inherent biases and actively work to unlearn them

• Actively seek leaders in URM advocacy that can aid in our development

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RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION: Our goal is to increase the diversity of our applicant pools and actively create a work environment that supports and retains a richly diverse community. 

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• Implement recruitment practices that reach a more diverse community for all positions

• Work with local colleges to identify individuals for paid internships and technician positions that would lead to greater opportunities

• Actively work to create a safe space for all lab members by increasing the dialogue on topics of racism, sexism, and other issues within academia

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OUTREACH: Working at multiple levels - primary, secondary and post-secondary

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• Ensuring that Dr. Stevens gives talks at universities that are more diverse in their student population

• Working with local colleges to offer mentors to URM students and share our passion for biological sciences

• Promoting the work of our URM colleagues with elementary, middle, and high school classrooms

 

EQUITY IN RESEARCH AND MEDICINE: As members of the biomedical community, we have an incredible opportunity to contribute to the dialogue surrounding disparities in research and medicine.

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• Contribute to the dialogue within Boston Children’s Hospital on best practices for eliminating these disparities

• Hold leadership accountable for implementing departmental and hospital wide changes for addressing these problems

• Continually educate ourselves on issues that URM populations face in healthcare

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ADVOCACY:

• Amplify the work of URM trainees and investigators by nominating individuals for invited talks and prioritizing URM works for journal clubs

• Offering financial support for potential lab members who may not otherwise be able to afford the lower wages that often characterize the lower end of the academia pay scale