Diversity and Inclusion in MNI: DEI@MNI

The Michigan Neuroscience Institute values diversity and strives to enhance the representation of those historically underrepresented in the sciences. We aim to foster an equitable and inclusive environment for all members of our community. We acknowledge this as an ongoing process and commit to individual and collective education, discussion, and action among our community in order to meet these goals.

Our diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) mission is supported by the work of the MNI DEI Committee (DEI@MNI), comprised of the following individuals:

  • Audrey Seasholtz, Co-Chair and MNI Research Professor
  • Cortney Turner, Co-Chair and MNI Associate Research Scientist
  • Elena Frank, Co-Chair and MNI Assistant Research Scientist
  • Julie Gales, MNI Administrative Director 
  • Geoffrey Murphy, MNI Research Professor
  • Thiago Nascimento, MNI Assistant Research Scientist
  • Wei Niu, MNI Research Scientist
  • Saeedeh Noroozi, Staff Member
  • Steve Stinnett, Staff Member
  • Mike Sutton, MNI Research Professor
  • Christopher Turner, Graduate Student 
  • Mike Uhler, MNI Research Professor
  • Isha Verma, Research Fellow

MNI Involvement in University of Michigan Initiatives

*Members of MNI support and participate in DEI-related task forces and programs put forth by the Neuroscience Graduate Program, surrounding our educational mission at the graduate level: https://neuroscience.med.umich.edu/diversity-equity-and-inclusion

**MNI faculty also support and participate in seminars, workshops, and trainings offered by Michigan Medicine Office for Health Equity and Inclusion (OHEI) 

In addition, many of our laboratories host undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students through the following programs that are aimed at enhancing diversity in neuroscience.

MNI Involvement in Global Initiatives

The MNI is proud to be one of the early organizational signatories on the ALBA Declaration for Equity and Inclusion, reflective of our shared beliefs that “diversity is a fundamental component of excellence in brain sciences, and that access to education, training, resources, mentorship and jobs should be based on an individual’s potential, not on their sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, nationality, religion, or culture”.

Alba means sunrise in several languages (e.g., Spanish, Italian), and the ALBA network was named accordingly; as it represents an emerging energy to help catalyze movement towards a definitive change that will allow all brain scientists an equal opportunity to thrive and contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge. The ALBA Network was founded by a group of leading scientists across the globe with the goals of: 1) promoting best practices and counteracting bias, 2) recognizing outstanding contributions to science and diversity, and 3) providing networking and mentoring opportunities to promote careers for members of underrepresented groups.

The ALBA Network officially launched in January 2021, in conjunction with the Society for Neuroscience virtual meeting (SfN Connectome). We recognize this as one of many steps in declaring our commitment, as an Institute, to improve and enhance our culture surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion. We know that there are many additional steps needed to achieve this goal and look forward to learning from our colleagues across the globe, via the ALBA Network, as we identify and prioritize action items.