We are pleased to announce that Wellcome Genome Campus Connecting Science is a member of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Science and Health (EDIS) initiative, joining our colleagues in the Wellcome Sanger Institute, as part of Genome Research Limited.

EDIS aims to build a powerful, connected and coordinated movement to advance equality, diversity and inclusion in science and health, which will ultimately result in better health outcomes for everyone. This is a mission which resonates strongly with our own, and one which we hope to make a useful contribution to.

“ I’m delighted that Connecting Science has joined EDIS. Our mission is to enable everyone to explore genomic science, and that “everyone” is very important to us, impacting our policies and practises to ensure that we are as reflective of our stakeholders and communities as we can be.
Dr Julian Rayner, Director Connecting Science

Our Advanced Courses and Scientific Conferences team recently instituted a gender diversity policy for precisely that purpose- to redress the historical under-representation of women as speakers at major international conferences, and to make sure that our speakers truly reflect our audience. Moving from a recommended to a mandatory speaker diversity policy has been challenging at times, but it has had a massive impact.

Dr Rayner added, “EDI is good for science in general because the most diverse and inclusive groups produce the best research, but it is perhaps even more important in genomics research. Everyone has a genome, so by definition genomics is relevant to everyone – genomics training and engagement must therefore strive to include everyone.”

We look forward to being a member of EDIS, and contributing to its important work to advance the role of EDI in science, research and health.