Before October 7, 2023, David Hasan, MD, MSc, professor of neurosurgery, never pictured himself doing humanitarian work overseas. But that all changed once the Israel-Hamas war began. The father of a young daughter, he was particularly saddened after seeing children on both sides injured and killed. Hasan, who was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents, set out to do whatever he could to help, traveling to Gaza in late 2023 with a group of doctors to perform surgeries.

As a leader with the employee resource group, ¡DALHE!, Dalia Antunez is helping to build community and expand professional networks for Duke’s Hispanic/Latiné employees and allies.

PhD candidate Griffin Carter credits BioCoRE, a Duke program aimed at increasing diversity in the biosciences, with much of his success in graduate school. He has become a leader in BioCoRE, helping recruit future scientists into the program. Also, through his research, he’s working to give hope to people with a deadly brain cancer.

In this month’s EDI Spotlight, Lance Okeke MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine, shares how he is preparing future clinicians and scientists interested in improving the lives of people living with HIV. He’s doing this work through his leadership in an innovative initiative for fellows and a program designed to increase interest in HIV science careers for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Sarah Wilson, PhD, always had an interest in fighting for justice and fairness, starting as early as high school. That drive to address inequities experienced by people in various communities still exists today. An assistant professor in psychiatry & behavioral sciences at Duke, she is involved with several projects, including a new intervention to mitigate racial implicit bias in clinicians.

After first joining Duke’s faculty in 2012, it didn’t take Michael Boyce, PhD, long to get involved in equity, diversity, and inclusion work — not only within his department but also on the national scene. An associate professor, Boyce has been actively involved with the Department of Biochemistry’s EDI committee since its inception. He also is a leader of a national program that seeks to transition scientists from diverse backgrounds into tenure-track research faculty jobs across the country.

Both in her roles as a head and neck cancer researcher and associate director of the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for Duke Cancer Institute, Tammara Watts MD, PhD, has made it her mission to address cancer disparities and diversify the oncology workforce. A nearly $2 million grant she recently received from the National Institutes of Health will help her do just that.

For Debra Ragland, PhD, who works closely with PhD students in the School of Medicine, addressing issues related to equity, diversity, and inclusion in the biosciences is simple. She says it’s a matter of creating a supportive environment where the students feel heard. In her role as director of the Duke BioCoRE Program, she helps students who are excited about the biosciences get the support they need as they work toward becoming the next generation of scientists.

The human brain works in different ways for each of us. But Madhav Swaminathan, MD, professor of anesthesiology, says that shouldn’t be a reason for anyone to feel excluded. Witnessing his autistic adult son thrive as an office assistant at the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development has been the motivation behind Swaminathan’s push to create welcoming, inclusive spaces for neurodiverse individuals at Duke.

Over the 26 years she has been at Duke, Jeanine Holland has been driven by a desire to serve others and make a lasting difference on local communities. In this month’s Spotlight, Holland discusses her passion for service, which was instilled in her as a child and remains part of who she is. She continues to serve even today in her role as administrative coordinator in the School of Medicine’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.