A Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

By: Richard Castillo, PhD, DABR August 3, 2021
Since the start of my graduate career, I have been extremely fortunate, perhaps uniquely so, to have directly benefited both from the exhaustive effort of individual mentors, as well as multiple nationally sanctioned efforts to increase Diversity in the biomedical, behavioral, and clinical sciences. I have both seen and experienced first-hand the extent to which outreach programs, sponsored fellowships, and committed mentorship can create new opportunities for recruitment, as well as support for existing students and junior faculty towards their career advancement. This prior experience directly informs my ongoing personal commitment and ambition to give back in support of a diverse, equitable, and inclusive professional discipline.
Racial injustice and inequality are a fact of life in this country, as they have been for the past 245 years. Cell phone cameras and a global pandemic have recently laid bare the systemic racial bias and disparity in both healthcare and law enforcement, endemic in our society for us and the world to see. It is certainly true that there is much to be done on these fronts, and if there is anything good to be taken from the recent events it is the call to action and mobilization by generations side by side demanding change.
But there are multiple other facets of systemic bias and racism that must also be acknowledged and addressed to truly and effectively undermine the institution of discrimination faced by racial, or sexual and gender minorities. I am a Mexican-American male born and raised in this country, who by good fortune and the tireless effort of two diligent, responsible, and eternally committed parents, has been afforded opportunities in life that put me now in a position to give back. I consider it my personal, professional, and societal obligation to provide opportunity and accessibility in academics and education to mitigate and redress the effects of long-standing institutional discrimination in this realm. Toward this end, I am dedicated to continuing to actively engage under-represented and under-privileged populations to facilitate increased awareness of- and accessibility to- all levels of education and professional development in the health sciences.
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About Us
This group and its initiatives are not associated or officially sanctioned or endorsed by Emory University, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the AAPM, or any other such institutional entity. We are a subspecialty community acting independently upon our own volition to foster a community of diversity, equity, and inclusion in Medical Physics.
Contacts
Our community organizers are provided as official contacts, but please use the form above for formal correspondence: Soleil Hernandez: [email protected] Richard Castillo: [email protected]