Vanderbilt Launches $17 Million Push for ‘Diversity’ in Biomedical Research Faculty Recruitment

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and Vanderbilt University (VU) recently announced the launch of a $17 million program with support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to “accelerate diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in the biomedical research community.”

The institutions were awarded $17 million in grant funds from the NIH’s Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) program, which is “designed to cultivate and sustain cultures of inclusive excellence in the biomedical research community,” in order to “diversify the biomedical research workforce.”

VUMC and VU will use the funds to “build on prior successes in recruitment to strengthen hiring, promotion and retention efforts for diverse, early-career investigators.”

Specifically, according to NIH, the institutions were funded specifically for their intention to improve diversity among its scientific research faculty by “hiring early-career scientists across clusters including research in immunology and infection, structural biology and imaging, genomics and health disparities, and neuroscience.”

The institutions are looking to “to speed up recruitment efforts” in order to “enhance” the diversity of biomedical graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, noting that the national “racial diversity” among research faculty remains low (4 percent Black, 4 percent Latinx, 0.2 percent American Indian, and 0.1 percent Pacific Islander).

With the NIH funds, Vanderbilt pledged to “recruit 18-20 tenure-track, early-career scientific faculty who are Black, Latinx, American Indian, and Pacific Islander, and establish a supportive and nurturing environment for their success,” in a series of three cluster hires.

“Securing this momentous multimillion dollar grant from the NIH allows us to create enhanced opportunities for individuals from underrepresented groups who have been historically absent from the STEM workforce. This collaborative effort between the university and VUMC empowers us to strengthen the scientific community, fuel innovation, and propel our nation forward,” Cybele Raver, PhD, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs said in a statement.

– – –

Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.

 

 

 

Related posts

14 Thoughts to “Vanderbilt Launches $17 Million Push for ‘Diversity’ in Biomedical Research Faculty Recruitment”

  1. Dr Ken

    The “E” in DEI is institutionalized racism. It guarantees outcome, in other words, one is selected based on something other that merit. Today that is the color of one’s skin or their preferred nonbiological gender. Years ago there was outrage of selection that those of a certain race or religion were excluded, not given a fair opportunity to participate. Why is it different today? Why is it okay that only a certain group can ride “at the front of the bus” or even be “on the bus”? I agree with “trefiner” significantly cut public funding to this university.

  2. nicky wicks

    Heaven forbid they hire the most qualified

  3. william r. delzell

    If Vanderbilt is really for diversity, then why did the Vanderbilt Medical Center capitulate to Governor Lee and his D.A. over turning confidential patients’ medical records over to the state? Shame on my alma mater for such cowardice toward the Republicans!

  4. Dan L

    Can everybody PA-LEEZE just get back to doing their F&*king jobs, regardless of their race??

  5. Mary Langdon

    VU used to be a first class university back in the 50s and 60s. It was selective in its acceptance of students and was generally a great place to get a superior education… even though the old Commodore whose money was not lily white in its accumulation started the whole college was a capitalist and one
    who knew how to make money ruthlessly. Vandy was also a white institution. The civil rights movement in the late 60s and 70s caused some changes in the racial population of their student body, but , its degeneration into selling its soul for money in the form of Federal Grant’s to transgender teens. and preteens is, obnoxious, immoral, and the selling of this college’s soul for $$$$$$$$$$.is horrific ..but, then the whole city seems to be selling its soul for economic expansion with no vetting of what sort of people move here.
    Stop the train. I want to board and move away..
    .

  6. Tom Richardson

    Explain to me just what part of this BS is in any way Constitutional? Not only is MLK rolling over in his grave, so are every one of our Founders. Of course, Karl Marx is dancing the Happy Dance….

  7. Proud Nashvillian

    This is so disturbing. It sounds like Larry Fink (BlackRock) has his ” Population Control” fangs into the Vanderbilt Board somehow.
    They are now going to take up Fauci’s population control efforts. It looks like Covid 19 was targeting the elderly. That’s where most the deaths occurred. Of course, they were denied anti-viral medications & were not “treated” until it was too late with Remdesivir. We now know that Ivermectin & other antiviral meds would have saved hundreds of thousands (millions) of human beings if they had been treated right away. But then they concocted a “vaccine”, & fired Healthcare workers who refused to take the poison. The Vaccine has made Big Pharma & Fauci very rich & killed or maimed many more young people. .
    They got caught red-handed with their inhumane (should be criminal) plan to sterilize young children through their Gender Afformation Program. This program is designed for white children, simply by the fact that they have insurance or some special Grant (our tax dollars) to target white children.
    If you will notice the Covenant Trans Killer was white? How unusual is or for a white young woman to carry out such a horrific massacre?
    I’ve been suspicious of the Huge Effort to Conceal Evidence of this young woman’s journey into her transformation. THE MANIFESTO & numerous journals & computers where she documented her JOURNEY INTO HELL.
    Was she a patient at Vanderbilt?
    Is Mayor John Cooper ordering the Secrecy?
    Or the FBI? Or all of the above & why? Maybe this is why Cooper isn’t running again (don’t need that Vandy campain money exposed, right?)
    The miscreants destroying children’s lives needed a new way to make up for the Goldmine they lost bc thankfully our Legislature banned those evil people from mutilating our children, bc ” They Care”. Unfortunately, they didn’t go far enough. They should have criminalized it. Its right up there with Murder. It’s not infanticide (Abortion another population control method), but will prevent them from procreation as adults.
    So it doesn’t appear that Vandy gives a “F” about Healthcare.
    People please share this article with your elected Representatives including those who are running for Metro Council. This is our community. We have a say in what is allowed. I don’t think a lot of people make that connection, even some that are running. They are our Representatives, not Vanderbilt’s. But I bet Vanderbilt Lobbyists are pouring big bucks into campaigns. Just remember, your vote is more important to elected officials than campaign donations, except for maybe Metro Council bc they are shackled with mandatory term limits, so they don’t really have the power of the vote to protect them. Its that simple.
    They are lame ducks from the start. They are more like Rubber Stamps for the Mayor (Executive Branch & not your Representative).
    We want the Vanderbilt Hospital & University that used to be considered Top in the Country, not the trash dump they are now. JUST SAY HELL NO.

  8. Rocky

    All this diversity BS is Communism hiding behind nice sounding words.

  9. This is how Vandy raises the bar:

    Uh, sir, that’s a screwdriver, not a scalpel.

  10. Hj Mac

    That’s why Vanderbilt has become a shithole liberal hospital.
    The Mayo is more concerned about helping patients then kissing up to liberal jackasses who run Vanderbilt that care more about your color then helping sick and hurting patients .
    What idiots and self serving scumbags….

  11. Doc Ferri

    I want a doctor or scientist be qualified I don’t care about the color of their skin. Thankfully none of my doctors are affiliated with Vanderbilt in any way

  12. JRin

    “Inclusivity” encourages hiring people based on their race, and not on their qualifications. It’s unconstitutional and leads to a degradation of society.

  13. Randy

    The looney left is using our own money (borrowed money no doubt) to destroy this nation, Sowing seeds of hate and division. Touting mental illness and the manipulation of biological norms to create evil and fatal outcomes. The level of destruction began by Faucci and his minions continues at light speed. The intent to eliminate anyone that disagrees with their societal views and not have it viewed as murder is very real.

  14. trefiner

    As a physician myself, I would have hoped that medical researchers as well as practitioners would be the best and the brightest available. Obviously Vanderbilt has abandoned that standard in favor of collecting more federal dollars. But money has of late been one of the major driving forces at Vanderbilt as shown by their adolescent sex change clinic. In a secretly obtained video they bragged how much money that brought into the schools coffers. I hope the Legislature will cut significant funding to this Woke University.

Comments