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Katelyn Mika, PhD, Human Genetics 2018, Receives New BDC DEI Award

The inaugural winner of the Annual BSD Diversity Committee (BDC) Postdoctoral Researcher Diversity, Equity and Inclusion award has been announced. Postdoctoral Researcher Katelyn Mika, Human Genetics PhD 2018, who works jointly with Neil Shubin and Anindita Basu, was recognized by the BDC for her ongoing efforts within the DEI space. 

The BDC works to enhance diversity in UChicago Biosciences by providing a central office and administration that coordinates and promotes social, cultural, and scientific interactions, awareness of issues facing underrepresented students, and recruitment from and networking with established regional and national marginalized-serving organizations. The BDC established the Annual BDC Postdoctoral Researcher Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) awards to celebrate outstanding accomplishments undertaken by postdoctoral researchers during the past year.

This award highlights some of the wide breadth of DEI work done across campus and in the greater Chicago community, including community outreach, recruitment efforts, internal initiatives, and other diversity, equity and inclusion endeavors. A BDC Diversity and Inclusion Committee, led by graduate student Grace Schulz (Development, Regeneration and Stem Cell Biology), BDC Co-Chairs Dr. Eileen Dolan (GGSB, Cancerbio) and Dr. Adam Hammond (Biophysical Sciences), Dr. Jill Mateo (Evolutionary Biology) and postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Megan Rowton (Moskowitz Lab), sought nominations of deserving awardees from students, postdocs and faculty, with a brief description of that person’s DEI efforts. 

The impact of this diversity and inclusion work on the University of Chicago, the greater Chicago community, and the larger field of biology is highly significant.