The ImmunoDiverse Allyship Learning Team is a trainee group organization focused oncreating a welcoming and inclusive environment at UCSF.

Allyship is crucial in the scientific community. Allies help create an environment where diverse perspectives can thrive, leading to more comprehensive and innovative solutions. In a field that relies on shared knowledge and teamwork, allyship ensures that all voices are heard, reducing barriers to success and promoting equality. This, in turn, strengthens the integrity of scientific research and advances the overall goals of the scientific community.

The goal of the ImmunoDiverse Allies Community is to tackle the effects of structural racial and gender inequities that persist in our society and have affected our academic institutions. In order to stay true to ImmunoX's commitment to highlight and uplift our URM trainees, we have allocated funds for the ImmunoDiverse Allies Community and Research Enhancing Fellowship that provides needed funds for DEI activities or research funds to offset effort put into DEI activities or as a result of disparities of opportunity.

Dr. Duncan is the Assistant Dean for Diversity and Learner Success and is also an Assistant Professor at UCSF. She has been an advocate for folks in the DEI space ever since she joined us from Vanderbilt University.  She is involved in coordinating UCSF's Summer Research Training Program which provides opportunities for undergraduate students to train in our research laboratories. She is also involved in overseeing the National Institute of General Medical Sciences' Initiative for Maximizing Student Development, which is a program to improve the academic and research competitiveness of URM students in biomedical research. This past year, she helped the Black students at UCSF form a community known as Black Excellence in STEM, or BE-STEM. As if this wasn't enough, she has also been generating anti-racist and DEI leadership courses and materials for the UCSF community. Dr. Duncan has been a source of support for URM students in the BMS program as they navigate the academic arena.

She is truly an inspiration for our students and the ImmunoDiverse Outreach team looks forward to working closer together with her on the training programs.

She is a recent graduate of the BMS PhD program, where she worked in the laboratory of Dr. Matt Spitzer investigating the impact that bearing a tumor weighs on the systemic immune system. During her time at UCSF, she was also involved in organizing IgEquity, formerly known as ImmunoXX+, a trainee-led student group aimed at tackling gender equity in science and immunology. In the past year, as she was busy wrapping up her PhD studies, writing her thesis, and pumping out a phenomenal article in Nature Medicine, Dr. Allen also poured all of her energy to create what is now ImmunoDiverse.

She knew she knew she was not going to see or experience the fruits of her labor, yet she selflessly volunteered her time to ensure that our group would provide an inclusive environment and would be a sustainable program. She was pivotal in helping us navigate the intricacies of forming this collective from scratch and doing it at an accelerated rate given the urgency of the situation. We cannot thank this individual enough and are forever grateful for the instrumental role she played in improving our ImmunoX community.

Allyship Programs

9/24/2020 & 9/25/2020: Launch Session
View recording here.

Are you a high school student interested in seeing what a career in STEM looks like? Do you want to join a program that can provide you with tools that can help you in your career? Would you like to join a vibrant community of scientists at UCSF? If so, then apply to the SEP High School Intern program and see if you match with one of our labs!

Visit the SEP website for more information on how to apply.

Are you a community college student interested in getting some hands-on training in a research setting? Are you interested in pursuing a bachelor's degree in science and would like to gain training? Would you like to join a vibrant community of scientists at UCSF? If so, then apply to the PUMAS Summer Internship Program and see if you match with one of our labs!

Visit the PUMAS website for more information on how to apply.

Are you a recent graduate from a bachelor's degree in science? Are you interested in gaining research experience? Are you interested in pursuing a graduate degree or professional degree and think research will help you with your career goals? Would you like to join a vibrant community of scientists at UCSF? If so, then apply to the PROPEL post-baccalaureate program and see if you match with one of our labs!

Visit the PROPEL website for more information

Building Community: Learning Anti-racism and Allyship as a Community

• Video: How to be an Antiracist (Dr. Ibram X. Kendi Interview)
• Text: What Black scientists want from colleagues and their institutions (Nature, Virginia Gewin)
• Text: The New Reconstruction (The Atlantic, Adam Serwer)
• Podcast: Bonus Episode: 'Not Just Another Protest' (Codeswitch)

• Science & Health Education Partnership (SEP)
• PROPEL: Post-baccalaureate Research Opportunity to Promote Equity in Learning
• PROPEL is a post-baccalaureate research program serving over 100 post-bac researchers through career and professional development training sessions, networking opportunities, and laboratory mentorship. The trainees are full-time employees with salary (>$50k) and benefits.
• Center for Science & Education Outreach (CSEO)
• CSEO works with K-16 students, their parents, school representatives, and community members to design, implement and evaluate programs and services that foster students' academic development to make them admissible to the post-secondary institution of their choice.
• Brain Camp @ UCSF
• Brain Camp @ UCSF is a free, immersive, week-long experience for underserved and underrepresented high school students in San Francisco, led by UCSF medical students and faculty. Join us in exploring the fascinating anatomy of the brain, learning about mind-blowing advances in neurosurgery, and understanding the complex interplay between mind and behavior. You'll learn how to suture, dissect a brain, use a reflex hammer and much more! Additionally, there will be workshops and panels on college prep as well as extensive opportunities to interact with neurology faculty and medical students.
• Biotechnology at CCSF
• The BiotechnologyProgram of the Department of Engineering and Technology at City College of SanFrancisco trains a students for careers as technicians and lab assistants atcompanies and academic institutions in the San Francisco Bay Area.  
• Summer Research Training Program (SRTP)
•   Students selected for summer research at UC San Francisco spend up to ten weeks working with UCSF faculty members on research projects. Participants in the program take part in seminars, lectures, and social events, creating a cohesive and supportive community. At the end of the program, students give      presentations of their research and get valuable feedback from students,      postdocs, and faculty at UCSF.
• UCSF Amgen Scholars Program
• The UCSF Amgen Scholars Program provides undergraduate students with the opportunity to conduct research in the basic sciences with an emphasis on health-related research including Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bioengineering, Biological and Medical Informatics, Biomedical Sciences, Biophysics, Cell Biology, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Genetics, Neuroscience, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics.
• As a graduate-only university that is home to one of the most vibrant biomedical communities in the nation, UCSF offers a unique environment for Amgen Scholars. Amgen Scholars will work collegially alongside graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and faculty, receiving mentorship from some of the most preeminent scientists in their field.
• The goal of this ten-week summer experience is to prepare students for graduate study and a research career in the health sciences. Students complete an original project under the guidance of a faculty mentor whose work is closely aligned with the student’s research interests and experience. During the last week of the program, Amgen Scholars present their findings in a written abstract, and give oral and poster presentations at a Research Symposium attended by faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate students. Participants also attend a mid-summer Symposium with Amgen Scholars from all host institutions.