Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee

AAMRI’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee was established by the AAMRI Board in July 2020 to enable a more coordinated approach of activities in this space.

Committee members are researchers and professional staff based at medical research institutes with experience, insight and passion for equity, diversity and inclusion in medical research through their work and lived experiences. The committee is dedicated to advancing equity for the health and medical research sector through a diversity and inclusion lens.

The AAMRI EDI Committee seeks to:

• identify and prioritise areas for action to better attract, retain, and promote women, non-binary people and underrepresented groups in medical research. The Committee will consider existing systemic EDI issues in medical research as well as the impact of major disruptions in exacerbating existing inequities.
• ensure that their actions and recommendations are intersectional and inclusive of all.
• represent and advocate for medical research institutes on EDI issues to key stakeholders including government.
• advance EDI for medical research institutes by providing guidance on best practice and actionable recommendations. This will complement existing efforts of other organisations working towards gender equity, diversity and inclusion in medical research and STEM more broadly.

In 2021, the committee developed AAMRI’s five year GEDI Strategy and Action Plan, which defined four priorities areas for action. Other significant pieces of work undertaken by the AAMRI EDI committee include:

• Respect in Research – Project and Report
• Helping with the establishment of new Centre for Sex and Gender Equity in Health and Medicine, of which AAMRI is a collaborative partner.

EDI Committee Members

The AAMRI Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee is made up of the following representatives from AAMRI member institutes:

• Professor Frances Kay – Chair
  Institute Director and CEO, Hunter Medical Research Institute
• Dr Saraid Billiards – AAMRI, CEO
• Keziah Bennett-Brook
  Program Head of Guunu-maana (Heal) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research, The George Institute for Global Health
• A/Prof Jason Cain
  Research Group Head of Developmental and Cancer Biology, Hudson Institute of Medical Research
• Dr Ingrid Cox
  Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Menzies Institute for Medical Research
• Dr Ayan Dasvarma
  School and Institute Manager, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute
• Professor Miles Davenport
  Head, Infection Analytics Program, Kirby Institute
• Sophie Keay
  Diversity and Inclusion Specialist, The Kids Research Institute Australia
• A/Prof Cindy Ma
  Laboratory Head, Garvan Institute of Medical Research
• Robyn Morrison
  Director People Culture and Operations, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute
• Professor Louise Purton
  Head of Stem Cell Regulation Unit, St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research
• Dr Sandra Richardson
  Research Group Leader, Mater Research
• Dr Sarah Russell
  Group Leader (Senior Faculty) of the Cancer Immunology Program, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
• A/Prof Morag Young
  Head of Cardiovascular Endocrinology Laboratory, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute