A culture of Belonging in UW Bioengineering

At the University of Washington, diversity, equity, and inclusion are integral to excellence. We value and honor diverse experiences and perspectives, strive to create welcoming and respectful learning environments, and promote access, opportunity, and justice  for all.

Two women in Lutz lab at whiteboard

What Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion means to the UW Bioengineering Community

Towards Justice, we believe that engineers must understand the social justice aspects of technology research and development practices, and are therefore including these topics in our curriculum. Towards Equity, we believe that admissions, hiring and retention practices must utilize best practices shown to overcome institutional and individual biases. Our Department values Diversity as individual differences (e.g., personality, prior knowledge, and life experiences) and group/social differences (e.g., race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, country of origin, and ability as well as cultural, political, religious, or other affiliations)1. We seek to have our educational and research programs represent the diversity of our country. Towards Inclusion, the Department focuses on intentionally creating a welcoming environment for everyone, absent of negative feelings and experiences such as fear, insecurity, social tensions, and unaddressed microaggressions, as well as fostering active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity (1,2).  These efforts are multi-dimensional and include collaborations with numerous UW programs, recruitment efforts, policies, curriculum, practices, faculty/staff promotions, decision making, and mentoring and continuing education for members of our community.

Three students in Lutz lab

Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee

The UW Bioengineering JEDI committee has been tasked with developing mechanisms and providing guidance to increase our department’s level of expertise on equity and inclusive teaching and mentoring, and to provide similar expertise to our trainees.

JEDI Resources

Race and Ethnicity

Gender

LGBTQ

Individuals with disabilities

International students

INCLUSIVE ADMISSIONS OR HIRING

INCLUSIVE TEACHING

UW INSTITUTIONAL MISSIONS, POLICIES, AND RESOURCES

Feedback & Reporting Mechanisms

It is our goal that all members of the BIOE community feel included and supported. We want to highlight the resources available to you if you would like to provide feedback to improve the program or resolve a situation, or would like support in an incident of bias. We have provided links to different methods of providing feedback or reporting, and some information to help you decide which suits your purpose.

See also

Diversity at the University of Washington

UW Equity Focus, the UW’s hub for stories highlighting diversity and equity

In the News

  • uw, bioengineering, kevin, shi, humans

Humans of BioE: Kevin Shi

January 17th, 2018|

Kevin Shi is a graduate student in the MS/BS program and performs cellular engineering research in the Davis lab, investigating cardiac function and repair. Last year, he worked with Dr. Dianne Hendricks to develop bioengineering outreach modules for local schools. Now, he works to improve awareness and support of mental wellness, student health, and suicide prevention. As an advocate for student wellness, Kevin is motivated by his own experiences in BioE. Learn more about his story and student wellness resources at UW.

  • humans, bioengineering, students, UW

Humans of BioE is Back!

January 5th, 2018|

Every UW bioengineer has a story to tell - and Humans of UW Bioengineering is ready to tell them! We look forward to celebrating our community’s resilience and diversity with you - stay tuned.

  • molecule

Karl Böhringer to direct UW Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems

January 3rd, 2018|

UW has launched a new institute that aims to accelerate research at the nanoscale, the Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems, or NanoES. NanoES, part of UW's College of Engineering, will develop tiny devices and systems that [...]

  • Comparison-of-Neovascular-Lesion-Area-Measurements-From-Different-Swept-Source-OCT-Angiographic-Scan-Patterns-in-Age-Related-Macular-Degeneration

Comparison of Neovascular Lesion Area Measurements From Different Swept-Source OCT Angiographic Scan Patterns in Age-Related Macular Degeneration

December 14th, 2017|

The researchers compared area measurements for the same neovascular lesions imaged using swept source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) and enlarging scan patterns. The similarity in lesion area measurements across different scan patterns suggests that SS-OCTA imaging can be used to follow quantitatively the enlargement of choroidal neovascularization as the disease progresses.

  • Composite fiber system: Mucus-penetrating nanoparticles encapsulated in mucoadhesive nanofibers. The system demonstrated greater than 30-fold increased nanoparticle retention in reproductive tract at 24 hr.

Nanoparticle-releasing nanofiber composites for enhanced in vivo vaginal retention

December 14th, 2017|

Current approaches for topical vaginal administration of nanoparticles result in poor retention and extensive leakage. To overcome these challenges, the researchers developed a nanoparticle-releasing nanofiber delivery platform and evaluated its ability to improve nanoparticle retention in a murine model. In this first study of nanoparticle releasing fibers for drug delivery, they discovered that the system demonstrated 30-fold increased nanoparticle retention in the reproductive tract 24 hours following administration.