“Diversity is a fact, Equity is a choice, Inclusion is an action, and Belonging is an outcome.”

-Arthur Chan, DEI Consultant in the Bay Area

Every single staff member in GPB is an advocate for our students. Highlighted below are just a few of our team members who specialize in topics related to equity and inclusion. We provide individual advising sessions to our students to discuss a wide range of topics, including well-being, professional development, mentorship, equity, and inclusion. As always, our GPB Director Dr. Alex Bui is an advocate for all of our graduate students.

Diana Azurdia, PhD
Director of Mentoring & Inclusion

Dr. Azurdia is a first-generation Guatemalan-American and the first in her family to attend college. She earned her PhD in Biochemistry from UCLA. During her graduate studies, she faced challenges navigating the hidden curriculum and mentoring relationships. Dr. Azurdia is a valuable resource for navigating issues related to mentorship, fostering a sense of belonging, and promoting equity and inclusion.

Letty Treviño, MA
Assistant Director of Inclusion Initiatives

Letty immigrated from Monterrey, México and grew up in Houston, Texas. She identifies as a first-generation student, queer Latina/ Chicana/ Mexicana/ Tejana, person with disabilities, from a low socio-economic background. She came to UCLA for a PhD in Hispanic Cultures and left her program in her 6th year to advocate for students full-time. Letty offers one-on-one meetings to discuss approaches to tackling a variety of challenges you may face as a student. 

Our GPB Community Newsletter provides an overview of our student support structures and spotlights first-year Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship recipients from our programs.

Student Spotlights in the 2024 Newsletter Include: Itzetl Avila, Stefanie Brizuela, Yennifer Delgado, Tyler-Marie Deveau, Nelly Escalante, Natalia Garcia Dutton, Phelan Glenn, Rashel Jacobo, Timothy Lindsey, Julie Martinez, Angel Ruiz, Vanessa Saldivar, Juan Silva, and Francisco Solano.

You can explore past Community Newsletters (formerly Diversity, Inclusion, Community, and Excellence Newsletters) by year: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016

The hidden curriculum is a set of unwritten and often unspoken expectations, rules, and skills that students are expected to develop throughout their time at university. GPB supports demystifying the hidden curriculum by providing a variety of workshops and events on topics such as professional development, community building, and inclusive mentorship.

• Grad School Hacks Workshops: This workshop series is designed to assist incoming GPB students in acclimating and thriving during the first year of their graduate programs by building community and choosing a research advisor and lab.
• Leadership Retreats: This series of full-day intensive retreats is designed to help trainees thrive in a research environment, deal with conflicts, and be effective leaders and team members.
• Bioscience Women’s Circle: Every quarter, our office organizes a space for all women-identifying people in our community to come together, make new friends, and develop new skills.
• Mentor Training: We provide inclusive mentor training for all members of our community (graduate students, postdocs, and faculty) to establish shared practices and vocabulary around the mentorship relationship.

We are committed to supporting a bioscience community that is vibrant, creative, and engaged. Here are some student groups dedicated to diversity and inclusion that engage in outreach, community building, and professional development.

• Association for Multi-Ethnic Bioscientists’ Advancement (AMEBA) aims to foster community and provide professional development and outreach opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds.

• Black Scholars in Bioscience (BSiB) aims to foster community, provide professional development, and outreach opportunities amongst postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and faculty.
• SACNAS@UCLA or the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) at UCLA is dedicated to increasing the number of all underrepresented students in higher education and in science.
• Scientific Excellence through Diversity Seminar (SEDS) Series are research seminars that bring highly successful professionals in biomedical, life, and physical science fields to UCLA. These professionals present their research and engage with students and postdocs to discuss their career successes and contributions to increasing diversity in science.

In addition to these student groups, we recommend checking out the variety of bioscience student groups we have on campus.

Below are some additional widely-used diversity resources; more resources are available on the UCLA Admissions Diversity page.

• Bruin Resource Center includes…
  • Bruin Guardian Scholars for current and former foster youth
  • Bruin McKinney Vento Initiative for students who identify as homeless
  • Collegiate Recovery Program for students on their path to recovery from substance use and/or other addictive behaviors
  • Students with Dependents
  • Underground Scholars Program for students who identify as formerly incarcerated and/or system-impacted
  • Undocumented Student Program
• Center for Accessible Education (CAE)
• Dashew Center for International Students & Scholars
• Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society
• Graduate Student Resource Center
• Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer (LGBTQ) Campus Resource Center
• Veterans Resource Office serves veterans and students that are military-connected
• Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

UCLA offers funds to top candidates from varying cultural, racial, linguistic, geographic, educational, and socioeconomic backgrounds. 

• GPB Fellowship Incentive Program: The Bioscience Fellowship Incentive Program encourages students to actively seek out and apply for competitive extramural fellowship opportunities, such as the NIH Individual National Research Service Award and the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Participants receive an annual $3,500 stipend augmentation while holding these fellowships.
• Taylor M. Brown Memorial Award: The Taylor M. Brown Award recognizes exceptional Ph.D. students in the biosciences who reflect the characteristics that made Taylor such a special member of the UCLA community. The awardees are well-rounded, with strong interpersonal skills and broad interests, and are passionate about mentorship, leadership, teaching, and science. They are highly engaged with the UCLA biosciences community and have a powerful commitment to increasing diversity in the biosciences.
• Suzanne Eaton, Ph.D. Memorial Prize: The Suzanne Eaton, Ph.D. Memorial Prize is intended to recognize a Ph.D. student or postdoctoral fellow at UCLA in one of the following areas under the Graduate Programs in Bioscience: microbiology, immunology, biological chemistry, or molecular biology. The recipient should be a scientist who displays the traits characterized by Dr. Eaton: excellence in their work, passion for their discipline, and a caring personality for their colleagues. It is hoped that the award will to help defray the costs of child care which may burden young scientists who are parents.
• Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship is a four-year fellowship program that supports entering PhD students interested in a teaching and research career at a college or university. 
• Competitive Edge Program is an intensive six-week bridge program that funds newly admitted PhD students whose backgrounds are underrepresented in STEM doctoral programs. 
• Will Rogers Memorial Fellowship provides funding for students with physical disabilities. 

A comprehensive list of funding opportunities can be found at https://grad.ucla.edu/funding/.