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

  • Yeast agglutination

High-throughput characterization of protein–protein interactions by reprogramming yeast mating

December 14th, 2017|

The researchers achieved high-throughput, quantitative characterization of protein–protein binding interactions without requiring purified recombinant proteins, by linking interaction strength with yeast mating. Using a next-generation sequencing output, they characterized protein networks consisting of thousands of pairwise interactions in a single tube and have demonstrated the effect of changing the binding environment.

  • Graphical representation of chemical crosslinking mass spectrometry analysis of protein conformations and supercomplexes in heart tissue

Chemical Crosslinking Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Protein Conformations and Supercomplexes in Heart Tissue

December 14th, 2017|

The researchers demonstrate the application of crosslinking mass spectrometry to identify protein structural features and interactions in tissue samples, providing systems structural biology insight into protein complexes as they exist in the mouse heart. The extension of crosslinking mass spectrometry analysis into the realm of tissues opens the door to increasing understanding of protein structures and interactions within the context of the greater biological system.

  • Global PiT-2 homozygous knockout mice exhibit reduced bone and tissue mineral density

Loss of PiT-2 results in abnormal bone development and decreased bone mineral density and length in mice

December 14th, 2017|

The study's findings suggest that PiT-2 is involved in normal bone development and growth and plays roles in cortical and trabecular bone metabolism feasibly by regulating local phosphate transport and mineralization processes in the bone. Further studies that evaluate bone cell-specific loss of PiT-2 are now warranted and may yield insight into complex mechanisms of bone development and growth, leading to identification of new therapeutic options for patients with bone diseases.

  • People featured in Aut/Win '17 eNews

UW Bioengineering eNews | Fall/Winter 2017

December 14th, 2017|

In this issue: Anniversary Update | Faculty Awards & Honors | Featured Publications | Trainee Highlights | Community Spotlight Welcome to UW Bioengineering's Innovation & Impact! In this issue, we proudly showcase our latest achievements [...]

  • Suzallo library

New endowed scholarship established in honor of revered BioE administrator

December 8th, 2017|

This year, an anonymous UW Bioengineering alumna generously donated the required funding to establish a new endowed scholarship in honor of Kelli Jayn Nichols. Nichols served the BioE department from October 2000, until her retirement in June 2016 as Director of Academic Services.