Events and Engagement

DHVI colleagues marched alongside Duke colleagues and the LGBTQIA+ community of the larger Durham area in the Durham: Pride parade on Sunday, September 29, 2024. 

The Duke Human Vaccine Institute's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee held a DEI Summit on Friday, May 17, 2024. The event brought the institute together for an interactive discussion about a key topic related to DEI, microagressions. The topic was chosen based on previous Duke Culture Survey results. DHVI leaders, including Director Bart Haynes, MD, Chief Operating Officer Tom Denny, MSc, MPhil, Chief Medical Officer Chip Walter, MD, and Chief of Staff Kelly Cuttle, PhD, participated in small group discussions around the topic with faculty and staff members.

Duke's Vice President for Institutional Equity and Chief Diversity Officer Kimberly Hewitt, JD, opened the program and discussed the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the current challenges facing programs that address DEI.

The Duke Office for Institutional Equity's (OIE) Assistant Vice President for DEI Leigh-Anne Royster, PhD, was the keynote speaker and facilitator for roundtable discussions.

Before roundtable discussions began, Amanda Newman, DEI committee vice chairperson and DHVI scientific program leader, addressed the audience and shared a personal story about the challenges she has faced her entire life and throughout her career as a biracial woman of Black and White parents. She talked about colorism among her peers, insensitive remarks regarding domestic violence, and her experiences of microaggressions in science related to education and status.

Next, roundtable groups of leadership, faculty, and staff discussed topics around microaggression and were asked to share stories related to microaggressions they may have experienced. Among the few who shared their stories with everyone, Kevin Saunders, PhD, DHVI’s associate director, shared his story of when he and his wife were at a conference in Paris, France, waiting for help with their belongings at a hotel, and were ignored repeatedly in favor of other patrons who were White.

The event concluded with participants providing real-time comments about how to stop microaggressions within the institute, which were displayed for all in the room to see.

Special thanks to Carter Abram, analyst with Oasis, for keeping the 2024 DEI Summit’s audio and video presentations rolling seamlessly.

DHVI's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee organized a community service event in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., National Day of Service on January 15, 2024. DHVI staff, faculty, and family members volunteered their services during the Keep Durham Beautiful cleanup of the Walltown neighborhood, hosted by Branches Community School.

About Walltown: At the turn of the 20th century, George Wall was newly freed from enslavement, becoming the first custodian in what became Duke University. He built the first home in the neighborhood next to Duke's east campus and it quickly became a haven for working class Black Durham residents who called it Walltown. In 2022, Walltown finally got its gateway - watch here.

DHVI's DEI committee held a Juneteenth Celebration for staff and faculty on Thursday, June 15, 2023, at the Amenities Park near DHVI's RTP campus. Staff and faculty enjoyed a soul food lunch, heard from distinguished speakers, and participated in various educational activities.

On October 14, 2022, the DHVI's DEI committee held a Hispanic Heritage Month event in person and virtually. Drs. Gabriela M. Maradiaga Panayotti and Viviana Martinez-Bianchi engaged us all in a riveting presentation. During the presentation we were asked questions like "What status do you most identify with or greatly impacts your life?" We then looked for our labels around the room and stood near the one we believed represented us the most depending on the different questions we were asked. Labels included religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, education, and socio- economic status. The exercise illustrated how people with different backgrounds may feel, how they may be treated differently in society, and how they adapt to their surroundings.

We also learned more about their work with LATIN-19.

Watch their presentation here: Part 1 | Part 2.

You may view our Tribute to Scientists of Hispanic and Latino Heritages presentation here. 

The Duke Human Vaccine Institute Perspectives Series provides a forum for DHVI employees to express questions, experiences, and reflections that bear on the racial and social injustices in our country.

The goal is to build a sense of community within DHVI by trying to understand one another on a deeper level in order to create a more inclusive environment for everyone. See previous sessions below.