As we close out this years’ celebration of Black History Month, we’re reminded to do our part to help our country come together as the great nation we aspire to be. Black History Month remains a powerful symbolic celebration and a time for acknowledgement, reflection, and inspiration. The national 2023 Black History Month theme was “Black Resistance.” It explores how African Americans have addressed historic and ongoing disadvantage and oppression, as evidenced by recent national events.
I want to give recognition to the Boldly Against Racism Task Force for the work that led efforts within the organization to the create a more purposeful path toward equity and inclusion. From those efforts, the DEI Officer position was created to deepen the organization's efforts in addressing inequities with a focused strategic plan, and I am honored to serve as the inaugural representative. As the DEI Officer, I also serve as the liaison to the DEI committee.
I also want to highlight the important work being done in the transplant community by members like Dinee Simpson, MD, FACS, Associate Professor of Surgery at Northwestern University. Dr. Simpson created an access point of entry to transplantation for the African American community in Chicago. For her tremendous efforts, Dr. Simpson is this year’s DEI Award recipient. We are grateful to Veloxis Pharmaceuticals for funding this award.
Paulo Martins, MD PhD, current Chair of the DEI Committee has done a great job leading the DEI efforts this past year. Andre Dick, MD MPH, Councilor-at-Large, should be recognized for ascending to role of Surgeon-in-Chief at Seattle Children’s Hospital
Lastly, there are funding opportunities such as the Socioeconomic and Racial Disparities in Transplantation research grant thanks to the support of our corporate partner, Takeda.
Look forward to more updates soon!
Henry Randall
DEI Officer, ASTS