Graduate Student Affairs

Winter 2025 Updates

► Welcome to the team Rosenberg-Hill Graduate Research Fellow, Abou Ibrahim-Biangoro! We are excited for her to join the team, bring in her expertise to move forward various research projects related to identity congruence. Learn more Abou.

► Dr. D’Anne Duncan and Dr. Jason Sello applied for and received grant funding to support the Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) Program from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. We are eagerly working to recruit the next cohort of IMSD fellows. Learn more about the T32 IMSD grant.

► This winter quarter, we are excited to continue to offer our JEDI Academic Leadership course (GRAD210) and will share more information about the student capstone projects in the future. Learn more about GRAD 210!

Last updated on March 12, 2025.

The Graduate Division is committed to cultivating an environment of justice, equity, equity, and inclusion (JEDI) for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars at UCSF. The following events and programs are aimed at administering JEDI efforts in four key areas: community building, mentorship and advising, career and professional development, and campus climate.

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Programs

NIGMS/IMSD Fellows and Affiliates Program
The National Institute for General Medical Sciences Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (NIGMS/IMSD) Fellows and Affiliates Program at UCSF is designed to support PhD students in basic science graduates programs in their first two years of their studies. In addition to financial support for 18-21 students per year, IMSD fellows are offered a variety of professional development and social a group of five young people smiling for a photo activities throughout the year. Funded by NIGMS and the Graduate Division.

Summer Research Training Program
UCSF’s major outreach program to recruit students to basic science PhD programs. Undergraduate students selected for the Summer Research Training Program (SRTP) spend up to 10 weeks working with UCSF faculty members on research projects. Participants in the program take part in seminars, lectures, and social events, creating a cohesive and supportive community. At the end of the program, students give presentations of their research and get valuable feedback from students, postdocs, and faculty at UCSF. The 2025 summer program will be held in person from June 1 to August 8, 2025.

Annual Events

Annual Retreat in Community Building

Starting in the fall of 2020, all incoming first year PhD students will participate in mandatory sexual violence and harrassment and bullying training. Students will also engage in small-group sessions centered around restorative justice practices to establish the importance of creating a community of care during their program’s orientation. Restorative justice practices are philosophical and humanizing approaches that focuses on repairing harm, making things right, and restoring the community. Incorporating restorative justice practices into our work helps UCSF create safer spaces for people to be brave and vulnerable in an open dialogue that facilitates healing in the community. UCSF’s PRIDE (Professionalism, Respect, Integrity, Diversity, and Excellence) values are aligned within restorative justice practice.

At the end of these small-group discussions, students will:

Understand how personal values are related to their professional identity as scientists.

Understand the role of personal values in decision making.
Explore how values impact behavior (in communication, interactions, words and action) in a group.
Develop a written set of community expectations for the cohort.
Learn how to create space for active listening with empathy.
Develop awareness of ourselves and the way we interact with others.

These sessions will be led by staff facilitators with training in restorative justice practices.

PhD Students Third-Year Reorientation

As a third-year student, you are moving into a new phase of PhD work, increasingly focused on independent research, career exploration, and changing dynamics in your working relationships. At the re-orientation, third-year students hear from senior students, become reacquainted with UCSF resources, and speak with students from across programs over breakfast. Conversations about equity, inclusion, and identity will also be highlighted.

Reunite: Diversity Soiree

Creating Community: Building Resilience among Graduate Students and Postdocs

Adisa Anderson, PhD was the keynote speaker at the 2023 event.

The goal of this event is to build and celebrate a community of care to promote mental health and wellness among UCSF’s graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. Self-care and seeking help for mental wellness are at a heightened state for members of the community in health science. This event is an opportunity for members of the UCSF campus community to build allyship and foster a stronger sense of belonging. Co-sponsored by the Graduate Division Dean's Office, Student Mental Health and Wellbeing, the Multicultural Resource Center, Office of Career and Professional Development, Associated Students of the Graduate Division, and the Office for Postdoctoral Scholars.

Read a news story about the spring 2023 event.

Listen to a recording of the 2023 keynote address (must log in via MyAccess)

Series and Recurring Community Building Events

International Pronouns Day
International pronouns day seeks to make asking, sharing, and respecting personal pronouns commonplace. Referring to people by the pronouns they determine for themselves is basic to human dignity. Co-sponsored by the UCSF LGBT Resource Center, the Graduate Division, and other campus partners.

LGBT Community Social at SPARK
Community building social event for LGBT graduate students and postdocs, and allies at SPARK Social SF at Mission Bay.

First Generation to College: Are you the first person in your family to graduate from college? The events below help build community and offer support and visibility for first generation (First Gen) to college students. All events are co-sponsored by the Graduate Division Dean's Office and UCSF First Generation Support Services.

First Gen Welcome Dinner
Community building evening, featuring a keynote address by a first generation to college graduate student, faculty, staff or alumni, for graduate students who are first generation to college.

Training, Education, and Professional Development

Racism in Science (GRAD 202)

Fall 2024

Faculty Instructors

D'Anne Duncan, PhD
Aimee Medeiros, PhD, MA, MPH

Graduate Student Instructors

Victor Alcala-Kellogg, PSPG PhD Student
Miranda Cabanski-Dunning, Tetrad PhD Candidate
Geremy Lowe, History of Health Sciences PhD Candidate
Alexzandria Simon, History of Health Sciences PhD Candidate
Halle Young, Medical Anthropolgy PhD Student

Course Description

This introductory course provides the historical background of systemic racism in scientific research. It explores the relationship between notions of race and science and how scientific research has been informed by and perpetuates anti-Black racism. This course also examines the impact of bias and a lack of diversity in science and ways in which to address these deficiencies. Students will learn the principles of social justice-oriented scientific research and its potential.

Course Objectives

Execute the principles of social justice-oriented scientific research.
Decipher how scientific research can endorse racial inequalities.
Identify specific historical examples of anti-Black racism in scientific research.
Distinguish how the historical relationship between the white supremacy campaign in the United States and scientific medicine influences contemporary scientific research.
Analyze how implicit bias and lack of diversity undermine science.

Visit the course page to learn more.

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Academic Leadership (GRAD 210)

Winter 2025 | Faculty Instructor: D'Anne Duncan, PhD

The goal of this course is to bring together training in justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) and leadership to prepare UCSF graduate students to incorporate JEDI values in scientific leadership roles. JEDI training is typically offered ad-hoc, as separate from scientific and professional training, making it difficult to integrate JEDI values into current and future leadership roles, such as leaders of research teams and labs. This course will offer an opportunity for graduate students to gain competence in JEDI concepts and values and, importantly, to practice applying these concepts.

The 2025 application cycle is now open! Visit the course page to learn more.

Research on Racism in Science Mini-Courses (GRAD 219)

Spring 2025 | Graduate Student Instructors: Berty DC Arreguin and Daphne Scott-Henderson; Alex Simon and Halle Young

These mini-courses will be taught by Social and Population Sciences PhD students. For more information about what courses are being offered in Spring 2025, visit the course page.

On-Campus Recruitment

Allyship Breakfasts plate of pancakes
The Graduate Division Dean's Office and the UCSF SACNAS Chapter co-host these yearly breakfasts during PhD recruitment weekends. Graduate students and the Student Success Dean and Outreach Program Manager serve as panelists to discuss the climate at UCSF, and campus resources, such as the IMSD program, are highlighted. Over the past few years, these breakfasts have been re-imagined by Tetrad alum Dr. Joselyn Del Cid, Biomedical Sciences alum Dr. Raul Torres, Biomedical Sciences alum Dr. Melissa Spear, Biomedical Sciences PhD Candidate Ramiro Patiño, Tetrad alum Dr. Robert Efraín Díaz, and Assistant Dean for Learner Success, Dr. D'Anne Duncan.

Network Initiative
Launched in 2018, the Network Initiative aims to connect current and prospective PhD students to build a professional network and community, share experiences, and provide insight into the campus culture at UCSF. Currently, seven basic science graduate programs participate in the Network Initiative, including: Tetrad, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, the Medical Scientist Training Program, Neuroscience, Biomedical Informatics, Biophysics, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics. Contact Dr. D'Anne Duncan if you'd like your graduate program to participate. This program was developed by Tetrad alum Dr. Roberto Efraín Díaz and Dr. D'Anne Duncan.

Learn about additional outreach activities in the Graduate Division.

Research

The Graduate Division is committed to providing programming and support for students in science. Education research, funded by the NIGMS Initiative for Maximizing Student Development grant, is being conducted by the Graduate Division to better understand factors of identity and belonging in order to improve the campus environment. This research will directly inform how different interventions are developed to improve the PhD student experience and this work may extend to postdoctoral researchers.

(Re)Defining Success: UCSF Graduate Student Experiences, Identity, and Community Survey (Launched June 2021)

The team and history

The (Re)Defining Success: UCSF Graduate Student Experiences, Identity, and Community survey began in 2018 when D’Anne Duncan, Arianne Teherani, and Elizabeth Watkins applied for a grant to support an expanded effort of the NIGMS funded IMSD Fellows and Affiliates program. They proposed the development of an evaluation plan that a) determines how students’ educational experiences and scientific and organizational identity formation contribute positively to their achievement, commitment, and career choice and b) provides guidance for institutions in designing and implementing graduate education and support programs. Jhia Jackson, a sociology candidate with a history of advocacy within the graduate division and an interest in this work, was recruited in the summer of 2020 to support the development of the instrument and analysis of the pilot project. Other members of the Graduate Division are now involved for the recruitment, analysis, and evaluation stages of the pilot.

In June 2021, three cohorts of basic science doctoral students received an individual survey link: a) those who had just completed their first year, b) those who had advanced to candidacy between Fall 2020 and Spring 2021, and c) those who had submitted for graduation between Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. Data collection and analysis of this pilot data was completed and reported out in Fall 2021.

References

Committees

Faculty-Student Committee
This group of graduate students and faculty work together to address issues of campus culture focusing on recruitment and retention of students in science. The Faculty-Student Diversity Committee meets once per quarter.

► View the task force report: Steps Towards Dismantling Systemic Racism and Anti-Blackness in UCSF Basic Science PhD Programs

Faculty-Dean's Office Task Force
This group of faculty and Graduate Division Dean's Office staff will specifically focus on understanding goals and strategies and identifying gaps at the institutional levels in the Graduate Division. View the meeting notes of the faculty-dean's office task force. *Note: As of October 21, 2020, this Task Force has been dissolved. Recommendations were identified and they will be included in the work being completed by the Student-Faculty Task Force.

Student-Faculty Task Force
This group of graduate students and faculty will work across programs to examine strategies to be adopted in common by all programs. View the meeting notes of the student-faculty task force.

Student-Led Initiatives

four people jump in the air on the campus quad — Queer Alliance members at the Fall Celebration, 2018

Meet

D'Anne Duncan, PhD

Assistant Dean for Learner Success

D'Anne Duncan, PhD

Make an appointment (UCSF AFFILIATES ONLY)

Yvonne Garcia, MS
Outreach Program Manager

Yvonne Garcia, MS

[email protected]

Make an appointment
(UCSF affiliates only)

All of our courses, programs and initiatives aim to:

create opportunities to integrate student success as a core feature of the curriculum and training environment
improve the learning and research environment to remove barriers to access and complement education and training for all students
align student’s personal and professional identities

Did you miss our town hall events on Strengthening Unity Within the Graduate Division Community?

View past town halls

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