Decolonising and diversifying the immunology curriculum
In the summer of 2021, supported by a BSI Equality, Diversity and Inclusion activity grant, Dr Bronwen Burton and Dr Caroline McKinnon ran their first decolonising and diversifying project on the biomedical curricula at the University of Bristol. They employed undergraduate students to review material from Year 1 and Year 2 units with significant immunology content with the aim to identify opportunities to diversify the content and highlight areas of good practice. The detailed reports produced led to thoughtful reflection and discussions with the university staff resulting in constructive changes to the curriculum.
Further and as of the summer of 2023, the grant helped to kickstart a much wider programme of work at the University of Bristol to decolonise and diversify the biomedical sciences. Colleagues from across the Faculty of Life Sciences worked together to secure additional internal and external funding to continue and expand their work. This included further work with student partners to review teaching and learning materials, resulting in wider changes to the curriculum. They have also listened to staff and students, carrying out surveys and focus groups which have highlighted the importance of this work, and revealed valuable insights into attitudes towards decolonising and diversifying the curriculum. The animation calls for academics to open up conversations between staff and students about this vital topic. You can find out more about this initiative by reading this article in Immunology News and by watching the animation below.
The BSI is proud to support this important project that will address structural inequalities in immunology and lead to long-term positive change for the next generation.
Working in collaboration with our undergraduate students on this project has allowed us to identify areas for improvement to our Immunology curriculum. We are grateful for the support from the BSI EDI funding that set the ball rolling for what is now a sustained focus on decolonising and diversifying our teaching.
Harnessing the experience of a lifelong career in immunology
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) are vital principles to ensure everyone can have a fulfilling career in immunology. In a recent workshop, BSI members explored the experiences of senior immunologists to push towards progress in this area.
This presentations discussed harnessing the inherited knowledge of late-career immunologists for the collective benefit of themselves, their colleagues and their organisations with two speakers who have direct experience of changing landscapes throughout their careers, Professor Ann Ager (Cardiff University) and Professor Liz Glass (The Roslin Institute at The University of Edinburgh).
The workshop was organised by Professor Jayne Hope, Dr Omar Alfituri, Dr Sean Wattegedera and Professor Gary Entrican, and it was funded through the British Society for Immunology (BSI) BSI Equality, Diversity and Inclusion activity grant.
Inclusive Research Showcase
Supported by the BSI Equality, Diversity and Inclusion activity grant, Dr Harriet Groom of the University of Cambridge ran an event centred around the lack of diversity in STEM research, highlighting the people they are researching rather than focussing on the researchers themselves. For example, despite the predominance of HIV-infected individuals being in Africa, a minority of genetic studies have been carried out on African sequences. Dr Groom and her collaborators have identified a genetic variant that controls the HIV viral load in African sequences specifically.
This event, the Inclusive Research Showcase, included speakers highlighting similar EDI issues in immunology-related fields speaking about their research and discussing how the immunology community can think in a more diverse way during research and education.
Dr Groom and her colleagues planned the event for Monday 9 May 2022 to coincide with Black Inclusion Week (9–15 May). The programme included an afternoon of talks followed by a mixer event where early career researchers who won the flash-talk competition had the opportunity to meet with the speakers and ask questions.
Speakers included: Dr Harriet Groom, presenting her work on the genetics of immunological response to viral infections in diverse racial backgrounds; Dr Viki Male, talking about immunology in pregnancy; and a member of Cambridge’s Hidden Epidemics and Epidemiological Obfuscation research team. During the afternoon, there were opportunities for participants to discuss the importance of diversity in research from all angles.
When we see scientific breakthroughs based on human immunology, we want people to know if they applies to people like them. Differences should not only be celebrated but investigated! – Dr Harriet Groom