WEBINAR SERIES—Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI): Understanding and Navigating Cluster Hiring

Cluster hiring—hiring multiple scholars or investigators into one or more departments based on shared, interdisciplinary research interests—is growing in popularity. This hiring method is aimed at facilitating diversity in the institution and fostering interdisciplinary research interests and collaborations.

In this webinar we will discuss:

• goals of cluster hiring;
• best practices;
• advantages and pitfalls;
• efficacy of cluster hiring in promoting diversity and inclusion and improving interdisciplinary collaborations; and
• the pros and cons of cluster hiring, from an institutional perspective to the individual being hired.

Moderator

Patricia Silveyra, PhD, is an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at Indiana University Bloomington School of Public Health. Silveyra’s research laboratory studies sex specific mechanisms of lung inflammation triggered by air pollution exposure. She received BS, MSc and PhD degrees in molecular biology and biochemistry from the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, and came to the U.S. as a postdoctoral fellow. Silverya later joined the faculty at Penn State College of Medicine and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also participates in service for several national and international scientific organizations.

Speakers

Matthew (Matt) Z. Anderson, PhD, is an assistant professor at The Ohio State University with a joint appointment in the Microbiology Department in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity in the College of Medicine. His research interests center on genome diversity and evolution of the most clinically relevant human fungal pathogen Candida albicans. In addition, Anderson’s lab’s research has expanded to investigate how the eukaryome—the eukaryotic microbes living on or within their host—contribute to human health. The research group’s microbiome works centers their partner tribal community by including tribal members as researchers in their lab.

Maresa Murray, MA, PhD, is a clinical associate professor at Indiana University in the Department of Applied Health Science. She also serves as the director of undergraduate studies and the assistant dean of diversity, inclusion and organizational climate in the School of Public Health-Bloomington. Murray earned master’s and doctoral degrees in the field of family and child ecology, where she specialized in African American family health. She conducts racial safety coaching, both virtually and in person, for private and public schools, local small businesses, Fortune 500 companies, community centers and churches. Murray has won numerous awards, and has served as the president of Groves Conference on Marriage and Family.