Lab policies
Mission statement:
To discover tumor microenvironment vulnerabilities, and to develop next-generation cancer therapies that target them.
Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
DiscoverTME lab is committed to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive lab environment, and increasing the representation of scientists from underserved, marginalized, and disadvantaged backgrounds in academia. We welcome and support scientists of all races, ethnicities, religions, gender identities, sexualities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Resources: https://dei.miami.edu https://www.science. org/content/article/how-begin-building-culture-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-your-research-group Chaudhary and Berhe, PLoS Comput Biol, 16.10 (2020):e1008210
Core Values
Scientific excellence and innovation: Our goal is to help improve the lives of individuals living with cancer. We achieve this by elucidating new tumor microenvironment interactions and developing innovative therapeutics to target them. To this end, we strive to answer meaningful scientific questions and implement rigorous methods to support or refute our hypotheses. We will work with researchers across fields to perform innovative and high-impact studies that employ the most advanced technologies as required for each research direction. Scientific independence: Every lab member is encouraged to further their projects and to remain curious. Each one of us should seek to improve ourselves, broaden our knowledge base, learn new techniques, find additional mentors and establish collaborations. Social responsibility and accountability: We are a publicly funded lab. We are responsible for sharing our findings with the broader scientific community and the public. We will make our research and resources accessible, present our work at conferences, and post our findings to preprint services prior to peer review. Teamwork: Collaboration is the key to impactful research. We seek to work together with laboratory and clinical researchers of different expertise to achieve scientific excellence. We function as a team. Collegiality, willingness to help others, and peer-to-peer mentoring are the pillars of our team’s culture.
Operational policies
DiscoverTME lab is committed to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive lab environment, and increasing the representation of scientists from underserved, marginalized, and disadvantaged backgrounds in academia. We welcome and support scientists of all races, ethnicities, religions, gender identities, sexualities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Resources: https://dei.miami.edu https://www.science. org/content/article/how-begin-building-culture-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-your-research-group Chaudhary and Berhe, PLoS Comput Biol, 16.10 (2020):e1008210
Statment on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
DiscoverTME lab is committed to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive lab environment, and increasing the representation of scientists from underserved, marginalized, and disadvantaged backgrounds in academia. We welcome and support scientists of all races, ethnicities, religions, gender identities, sexualities, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Resources:
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Core Values
Scientific excellence and innovation:
Our goal is to help improve the lives of individuals living with cancer. We achieve this by elucidating new tumor microenvironment interactions and developing innovative therapeutics to target them. To this end, we strive to answer meaningful scientific questions and implement rigorous methods to support or refute our hypotheses. We will work with researchers across fields to perform innovative and high-impact studies that employ the most advanced technologies as required for each research direction.
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Scientific independence:
Every lab member is encouraged to further their projects and to remain curious. Each one of us should seek to improve ourselves, broaden our knowledge base, learn new techniques, find additional mentors and establish collaborations.
Social responsibility and accountability:
We are a publicly funded lab. We are responsible for sharing our findings with the broader scientific community and the public. We will make our research and resources accessible, present our work at conferences, and post our findings to preprint services prior to peer review.
Teamwork:
Collaboration is the key to impactful research. We seek to work together with laboratory and clinical researchers of different expertise to achieve scientific excellence. We function as a team. Collegiality, willingness to help others, and peer-to-peer mentoring are the pillars of our team’s culture.
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Operational policies
Training Plan:
Each team member will develop an individualized training plan when they join the group based on their career goals. We will revisit this training plan annually to set/revise goals.
Meetings:
Lab members will meet individually with Dennis on a weekly basis to review data generated in the previous week, troubleshoot technical problems, brainstorm together and establish research goals for the subsequent week. These meetings will also be available to discuss other topics, such as: suggestions/concerns regarding operational matters, well-being of individual group members, and communicating other training/work-related activities. If necessary, we can schedule additional meetings.
In addition, we will have weekly lab meetings and/or journal clubs. Every lab member is expected to attend, present, and give constructive feedback. This is a collective effort to review the literature and advance the research projects. Everyone’s opinion is valuable. Mutual respect is critical to ensure a safe space for discussions.
Communication:
Every lab member can reach Dennis by email, phone, or text for any professional or personal matters. I will respond as quickly as possible. In case of emergencies, please feel free to call my cell.
We will use Slack as the primary means of communication for issues that affect the majority of the lab.
Data management:
The lab will provide members with computers. We will use an electronic lab notebook for record keeping. Information in the lab notebook should allow replication of experiments by a qualified peer. All the raw data should be indexed in the lab notebook and kept on the institutional cloud and/or servers, organized by project, type of data and date.
Lab responsibilities:
Everyone will contribute to common lab responsibilities to ensure smooth and efficient daily operation of the lab. We will decide on individual responsibilities as a group and revisit them at least annually.
Expectations:
Lab members can expect Dennis to support their professional development and help you reach your career goals. I will do my best to be a mentor, sponsor, and advocate. I will be prompt and transparent in my communications. I will provide guidance to the best of my ability, promote your work, help you establish a network, and be an advocate for larger administrative issues.
Each lab member is expected to work in a team-based environment and perform rigorous science.
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Social events:
We look forward to celebrating achievements, birthdays, and other special events together!
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