Diversity & Inclusion Council

Biological Sciences Divisional Diversity Statement

To learn more about the Diversity and Inclusion Council in the Department of Radiology, please contact one of our council members below.

Current Events:

  • Julia Mao accepted into Urban Health Initiative Community Champions Program

Archived Events:

On behalf of the University of Chicago Department of Radiology Diversity & Inclusion Council, we hope to shine the spotlight on our faculty and staff, sharing the perspectives on what diversity and inclusion means to them personally.

 

Community Champions

Dr. Julia Miao was selected as one of the 2025-2026 cohort of Community Champions, which is a joint initiative between UCM's Graduate Medical Education and Urban Health Initiative. Each Community Champion will be a liaison for their department/program to participate in UHI community activities,

The Community Champions program seeks to empower, connect, and support resident/fellow leaders in community engagement. The Community Champions will participate in a didactic curriculum and collaborate with the Urban Health Initiative on a community-benefit longitudinal project. The Community Champions will be expected to be an ambassador to their programs and share what they have learned through the didactic series with their colleagues. Recognizing the healthcare disparities impacting Chicago's South Side community, it is a hope that through community engagement, more residents and fellows will seek opportunities and choose to work on Chicago's South Side after completing training.

Women in Radiology: (this group is open to everyone in the department)

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:

Training:

 

Support:

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

Department Member Spotlight

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Diversity and Inclusion Events

Kulkarni, K

Dr. Kirti Kulkarni featured on WVON radio show

Dr. Kulkarni represented our department on the WVON “The Community Health Focus Hour” on Saturday, 5/3, 1 pm, hosted by Carl West, on Breast Density and Early  

Community Health Focus Hour’s weekly broadcasts — airing from 1 to 2 p.m. each Saturday — will feature fresh takes on healthcare topics, an expanded rotation of hosts, and guests with deep expertise in medicine, patient care, research, and community health.

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