Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

I am a firm supporter of promoting diversity initiatives at all levels in order to create and cultivate safe, open spaces for all of us involved in scientific research.

To this end I actively engage in DEI-centered mentoring, service, and research:

• In 2019 I participated in a novel diversity-driven hiring initiative for the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis. A highly qualified WOC was hired at the Assisstant Professor level through this effort.
• As co-founder and ongoing Mentor-Mentee coordinator for ESTEME (Equity in STEM and Entrepreneurship) at UC Davis, I helped recruit over 110 undergraduate students from underrepresented and/or non-traditional backgrounds along with 130 graduate students from various STEM fields. This program is designed to help undergraduates receive additional support and guidance on their journey to graduate school. The lack of diversity in academia is a pipeline problem that starts long before an application is submitted, and we hope our program can do a small part in counteracting this issue.
• As Vice president of Outreach of ESTEME in 2020-2021 I participated in a panel for the SNAP the Gap program at UC Davis to speak to middle school girls about the opportunities in scientific research.
• In 2021 I along with fellow Epidemiology PhD students Kyle Yomogida and Francesca Rubino worked with the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services to publish a manuscript in CDC’s MMWR on health disparities of long COVID. We found that women, older people, people with pre-existing conditions, and Black/African Americans had higher rates of long-haul COVID symptoms, so prevention and treatment could be prioritized in these groups to avoid exacerbating existing health disparities.

I acknowledge my own privilege and identity as an Asian-American in STEM, though that is coupled with the understanding that Asian-Americans are not a monolith, and that overrepresentation on average does not equal even representation across fields. I am committed to continuing the following actions:

• Recruit and mentor trainees from diverse backgrounds and identities
• Create safe, open environments for students and colleagues of different racial, ethnic, religious, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical ability, and other forms of individual diversity
• Listen to and amplify the voices from individuals historically excluded and marginalized from the academy
• Recognize my privileges and limitations as a mentor and a scientist

Though I cannot promise that I will not make mistakes while pursuing these endeavors, I will take the time to be introspective about my mistakes, properly educate myself, and not make the same errors in the future. Ultimately I believe DEI has to come about with a great deal of self-interrogation about our own biases and prejudices, which is not a process that is easy or outwardly visible at times.