Diversity

Reflections on equity in science: How can the progress that has been made teach us to overcome the challenges that remain? Professor Maike Sander, Scientific Director of the Max Delbrück Center, and Raeka Aiyar, PhD, Vice President, Scientific & DEIB Outreach of the NYSCF Research Institute chatted about how far we’ve come and the road ahead.

HeLa contributed to more than 75,000 studies, some of them at the Max Delbrück Center. The cell culture line is indispensable to many biomedical laboratories. But who was the woman behind this abbreviation? During Black History Month we are celebrating her legacy—and our researchers say “Thank you!”

CRISPR, PCR, TCRs – in biomedicine we use many abbreviations, in research and at symposia, in workshops or at celebrations. Since the Pride Symposium, shortly before Christopher Street Day (CSD) 2022, another abbreviation has joined the MDC: LGBTQ+.

Giving voice to the academic, social, and economic needs of PhD students at the MDC – that is the goal of the PhD Representatives. Their main concerns include equality, diversity and inclusion, as well as a stronger sense of solidarity.

Shortly before Berlin’s Christopher Street Day, the MDC will hold a Pride Symposium for the first time. On July 22, 2022, everyone is welcome to exchange ideas about queer issues in life sciences and health care.

An international research team recently created the first atlas of the human heart. Now the scientists want to add a new dimension to the project: diversity. They are being supported by an additional Seed Networks grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

How exactly does gut bacteria affect our health? This is what the Swedish bioinformatician Sofia Forslund is trying to figure out. She also wants to develop a software that helps keep people from getting sick.

An ‘Edit-a-thon’ event, hosted among others by the MDC, celebrated International Women’s Day by improving diversity on Wikipedia pages. The MDC-produced ORION Open Science podcast was there to investigate what the challenges to diversity in science are and how the Open Science movement can help.