One of the goals of the Association of Immunologists for Racial Equity (AIRE, formerly ReJUS)at the CFI is to improve our knowledge of the history of racism and present-day impact of racism and how it affects our ability to access a common set of resources, including access and opportunities in STEM fields. AIRE will also link with other organizations such as EWIS and qualified professionals to provide diversity and bias training.

During the Fall of 2021, Marc Jenkins announced the formation of Association of Immunologists for Racial Equity (AIRE, formerly ReJUS) at the CFI. AIRE was born in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, nationwide protests on racial discrimination, and discriminatory policing practices including the use of deadly force against black persons. These events have shaken our world, and have been a very painful reminder of our collective silence and complicity in maintaining the status quo and allowing racial injustice to go unchallenged. While centuries of institutionalized racism are daunting to correct as individuals, as a collective of scientists, we can reassess our individual and institutional beliefs, practices, norms, and culture and set them on a more just and equitable course.

AIRE was founded by trainees at the CFI and is an open community of CFI faculty and trainees (postdocs, staff, graduate, and undergraduate students). We are dedicated to the recruitment, support, and career advancement of students, post-docs, and faculty from historically underrepresented and disenfranchised communities in the biomedical sciences. Our mission is to 1) educate the scientific community on the issues of racial discrimination and institutionalized racism that permeate science and society; 2) promote the recruitment, retention, and career advancement of students, postdocs, and faculty from historically underrepresented and disenfranchised communities into the biomedical sciences; 3) facilitate community outreach events to assist the democratization of science. To review the slides from the first AIRE meeting please click here.

AIRE Signup Form 
EWIS Interest Form - Please also consider joining EWIS. Both of these groups will be working together on many shared goals.