Associate professor of biostatistics Mario Davidson has been appointed associate vice chair of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) for the Department of Biostatistics. In this newly created senior leadership role, Davidson will assist vice chair of EDI Leena Choi with promoting awareness and fulfillment of EDI initiatives and standards across the department.
Mario Davidson and Leena Choi at the 2022 All-Department Retreat
Davidson, the 2022 winner of the Geoffrey David Chazen Award for Innovation in Medical Education, also serves on the board of the Academy for Excellence in Education and as invited faculty for the national Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials Program.
The vice chair of EDI position was created in 2020. Choi is the first and current appointee to this role. Under her direction, the department launched its Summer Internship Program for Underrepresented Undergraduates, which has just concluded hosting its second cohort. Choi has also actively provided guidance to department colleagues on EDI training and assessments, particularly in her role as a search committee member. Prospective faculty members must describe their efforts to encourage EDI in research, mentoring/teaching, and community outreach as part of their applications.
Going forward, Choi and Davidson are to be involved with every committee and task force in the department—including the recruitment and advancement of students, trainees, staff, and faculty—with the goal of maximizing opportunities for EDI and guarding against unconscious bias. The mandate for all department members is to be familiar with EDI principles and apply them to all activities.
Additional initiatives in the department include the Diversity and Inclusion Application Fee Waiver for prospective PhD students (see the last section on our Application Process page) and a study group dedicated to Ethical Responsibilities Regarding Race in Research. PhD student Julia Thome is a recipient of the Provost’s Graduate Fellowship, which is offered by Vanderbilt University's Graduate School to incoming U.S. citizens and permanent residents from diverse backgrounds (a $10,000 stipend for five years, supplemental to any other funding offered to the scholar). Professor Bryan Shepherd is co-MPI of the VN-BioStat Training Program; associate professor Robert Greevy and assistant professor Peter Rebeiro serve on its training advisory committee. Abdurrahman Abdulhamid and Ibrahim Yusuf Ibrahim, the first two fellows, are reaching the end of their year in Nashville, and the next two trainees (Rukayya Alkassim and Safiya Sani) are expected to arrive in August.