Diversity & Inclusion Council

Mission Statement

Strengthening departmental function and effectiveness by empowering a community where diversity and inclusion are promoted; enabling everyone to feel valued, engaged, and supported.

Overarching Goals:

  • To renew the structure of and further diversify the departmental Diversity Council and its leadership by mid academic year.
  • To strengthen the sense of community across the department by organizing a community activity twice a year to which each departmental section, trainee, and staff group will have representative participants, such that everyone feels valued, engaged, and supported.
  • To increase our cultural competency by initiating at least three cultural sharing sessions over the next year, so that all members demonstrate the knowledge and skills to work with diverse people, to educate diverse students, residents and fellows, and to treat diverse patients.

Current Events:

 

 

Diversity and Inclusion are thrilled to roll out a fresh project for the Radiology Department - shining the spotlight on our fantastic faculty and staff, sharing their perspectives on what Diversity and Inclusion truly means. Our mission? To not only spark conversations within our department but to spread the word far and wide across The University. Keen to get involved? Contact Adrian Gutierrez for further information.

 

P117 Auditorium Refresh

A refreshed P117 auditorium is upon us! The BSD Office of Diversity & Inclusion and the BSD Women’s Committee, of which Dr. Carina Yang is the departmental representative, hosted an open house on October 10, 2024 to unveil new artwork in the P117 auditorium. The visual displays in the entryway and along each wall are an example of how we are working to incorporate our culture and values into the places where we come together, celebrating our community and our shared experiences. The Department of Radiology is featured quite prominently in several of the collages. Come by and have a look if you are on campus!

Group in front of a big statue

Mahogany Bus Tour

Some of the Department of Radiology members took a Mahogany Bus Tour (https://www.chicagomahogany.com/) through Bronzeville on Saturday, December 14, 2024. Our knowledgeable and dynamic tour guide was the founder himself, Dilla. We traveled through the architecturally beautiful, elegant neighborhood, where he pointed out the former homes of Nat King Cole, Emmet Tills, and Quincy Jones. Along Grand Boulevard, he showed us the former stately homes of Louis Armstrong, and Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, the first doctor to successfully perform open heart surgery and the founder of the first non-segregated hospital, Provident Hospital (naturally, the next stop), which harbors a historical affiliation with the University of Chicago.   
 
Other historic sites included: Sunset Cafe, the city’s home to legendary jazz venues featuring Louis Armstrong; the Chicago Military Academy, formerly the Eighth Regiment Armory, first built for a regiment commanded by blacks; and the stately Victory Monument on King Drive, honoring the regiment’s service in World War I, and symbolized by an African-American soldier. We saw the Bronzeville Synagogue, which eventually became the Pilgrim Baptist Church, giving roots to gospel music.  We drove along MLK Drive, where Dilla pointed out the former beautiful homes of Ida B. Wells, Gwendolyn Brooks, and lastly Robert S. Abbott, founder and publisher of the African-American newspaper, the Chicago Defender, and creator of the Bud Billiken Parade.  We stopped off to view the isolated Ida B. Wells Statue in the former Ida B. Wells Homes CHA projects, where the revolutionary, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist lived and raised her family. Shortly before our tour ended, we had a cozy and tasty break at the local coffee shop “Sip & Savor.” 
 
Our friends and colleagues were enlightened and fascinated to learn about our very own Chicago’s Black Metropolis, right in UCM’s backyard. Huge thank you for the department’s and Dr. Sophie Cemaj’s UC Well grant funding support for this outing!

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More about DOSAR

woman holds a veggie at the food bank

Hyde Park Kenwood Food Pantry

Our department via the D&I Council has initiated a monthly volunteering group at the nearby Hyde Park Kenwood Food Pantry, to serve our surrounding community. Recently, as many as 150 families visit the pantry on Saturday mornings at the Hyde Park Union Church (5600 S. Woodlawn Avenue), during which they shop for fresh produce as well as non-perishables accompanied by volunteer ambassadors.  Children as young as 10 years of age are able to participate. For more information, please contact Dr. Grace Lee at GLee@bsd.uchicago.edu.

Drs. Elise DeBruyn & Emily Miller

Becoming a Leader

Congratulations to Drs. Elise DeBruyn & Emily Miller! Both were recent successful applicants and were accepted to "Becoming a Leader," a new one-year professional development series sponsored by the Warner-Reynolds Leadership Academy, open to all trainees, postdocs, and PhD students, designed in support of the professional development of women in science and medicine. This series is hosted by BSD DEI leaders Tobias Spears, Drs. Doriane Miller, Julie Oyler, and Christina Roman. Dr. DeBruyn will be one of fifty participants. 
 
The first program in the series will feature a brief introduction to the series and what promises to be an engaging panel discussion by BSD faculty about women in science and medicine.

Recruitment:

  • Holistic application review
  • Focused discussion on Diversity & Inclusion with applicants with Departmental D&I Council leadership during each radiology residency interview day
  • Pairing URiM candidates with relevant URiM faculty for interviews
  • Methodic review of current Radiology recruitment and enrollment trends based on current research
  • Participated in Student National Medical Association (SNMA) and Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) Virtual Residency Fair –  September 12, 2020
  • Chicagoland Radiology Expo – November 6, 2021
  • Sponsored departmental representative who attended the Annual Medical Education Conference (AMEC) hosted by the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) in Hartford, CT from Wednesday, April 5 through Sunday, April 9, 2022
  • New RadExpo, in collaboration with New York radiology programs - November 5, 2022
  • Attended the SNMA AMEC 2024 conference in New Orleans in April 2024 - https://radiology.uchicago.edu/news/luis-de-jesus-attends-snma-amec-2024

Training:

 

Support:

  • Dedicated residency administrative liaison to Diversity Council
  • Resident liaisons to the Diversity Council

The Department of Radiology Graduate Program in Medical Physics Book Club is held quarterly and is open to students and faculty. The book club is supervised by Dr. Kenneth Bader,  head of the GPMP Diversity Committee, and coordinated by graduate students Inna Gertsenshteyn and Brittany Broder. Book club dates are based on group availability and books are ordered for students/faculty who confirm attendance.

Please contact Inna Gertsenshteyn (innag@uchicago.edu) or Brittany Broder (bbroder@uchicago.edu) if interested in participating.

Department Member Spotlight

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Diversity and Inclusion Events

Ahmed Hamimi

Dr. Ahmed Hamimi featured on WVON radio show

Dr. Ahmed Hamimi – represented our department on the WVON “The Community Health Focus Hour” on Saturday 7/6, 1 pm, moderated by UCM Dr. Doriane Miller, on imaging metabolic steatotic liver disease, with regards to hepatocellular carcinoma, also in discussion with a UCM hepatologist. 

Dr. Hamimi’s experience: “Being a guest on the radio as a doctor was an exhilarating experience that I will never forget. The thrill of sharing my expertise with a wide audience, that we don’t usually meet in everyday practice while engaging in real-time conversations, was electrifying.  Trying to harness years of knowledge and in the same time simplifying it to meet the understanding of everyday people is difficult, yet pleasant and somewhat rewarding. It was my first time to be a guest in radio show and hopefully not the last.”

Tamara and Bai Hui at potluck

Multicultural Potluck

Just before the holidays hit, it was time for the ever-popular, annual multicultural potluck!  This was held on December 17, 2024, with many faculty and trainees in attendance. A wide variety of foods and treats were shared and enthusiastically enjoyed, many of which were specific to department members' cultures. A wonderful eye-catching addition this year was a colorful world flags banner, contributing to the festive atmosphere, thanks to our Director of Women, URM, and Inclusivity, Dr. Grace Lee. See you all at next year's potluck! 

WIR event. Women sit in front of painting with a speaker

Civic Wellness Workshop at the Art Institute of Chicago Women in Radiology

On February 21, 2025, the UCM Women in Radiology participated in the Civic Wellness Workshop at the Art Institute of Chicago, with a curated tour discussing works of art in groups and how they may relate to communicating with patients. Dinner afterwards at Acanto was delicious! 

Resources