Incorporating EDI principles in teams and research approaches
With Dr Sowmya Viswanathan
Dr. Sowmya Viswanathan is a Scientist at Schroeder Arthritis Institute and the Krembil Research Institute (University Health Network) and an Associate Professor at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and at the Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine (University of Toronto).
She built her industry experience developing regenerative medicine products at Johnson and Johnson. Her expertise as a translational scientist shifted to cell therapy trials, cell manufacturing and regulatory affairs as Associate Director for the Cell Therapy Program at University Health Network. She then shifted back to academic research and became a research group leader in 2015.
Sowmya’s career is a weaving of multiple strands between industry, clinical considerations for patients and clinical practitioners, regulatory considerations for clinical trials and cutting edge research. It all started with a PhD in embryonic stem cell research in Toronto with a research period at MIT, an in-between period working for the Canada Stem Cell Network, a period working for big Pharma in Boston with some interactions with the FDA. Her first hand experience working with industry has grounded her understanding of how to collaborate with non-academic partners; it powers her ability to work in translational research.
Listening to our conversation will prompt your thinking:
How would you incorporate EDI principles into your own research
What empathic mentoring could look like
How embracing the personal is part of building a trusting research culture
Some reflections to ponder based on my discussion with Sowmya
Balancing the academia-industry divide
With a long period in a non-academic setting, there is of course the challenge of building the publication track record needed to be considered as a potential principal investigator. Many researchers worry about leaving academia and experience work settings in industry, fearing that the doors of academic research may close on them for this very reason- the risk of not having a publication track record.
Sowmya’s trajectory illustrates that the myth of strict barriers between industry and academia may become more fluid than appears. Sowmya reminds us of the Declaration on Research Assessment- DORA, an initiative that “recognizes the need to improve the ways in which the outputs of scholarly research are evaluated”. For researchers interested in experiencing research in industry settings, Sowmya encourages them to explore options to maintain a publication track record, as it may ease a return to academic research. Her experience shows that it does not stop it.
However, learning to showcase the impact of your work in a non-academic setting may be able to compensate for a smaller publication track record, if you wished to go back into academic research. Some academic institutions may value the breath of expertise coming from periods in industry. The fear of never being able to go back to academia should certainly not be the limiting factor of having a go at working in industry, if this is something you wish to experience. In some countries, the introduction of the narrative CV (resources here) is an attempt at diversifying academic recruitment and removing the exclusivity or over-reliance on traditional research outputs such as publications.
o Are the funding bodies you are considering using the narrative CV?
o Is the fear of not being able to publish what is stopping you from considering industry careers?
o Do you have opportunities to meet industry researchers to demystify what careers in industry are like?
Incorporating Equality, Diversity and Inclusion principles in research environments
This needs to go beyond just a consideration of diversity in recruitment. Sowmya has embraced EDI principles as a core element in the research process itself.
Her extensive experience of clinical trials where for a very long time, gender, sex and ethnic minorities were blind spots in the design of trials, has reinforced her commitment to making EDI principles a corner stone of her methodological approach.
Integrating EDI into the design of research questions and how the research may translate into the clinic remains an evolving learning process (resource here). It requires unlearning default approaches as well as exploring assumptions and implicit biases. Sowmya is challenging herself and her research team. Building awareness that EDI biases exist in the design of scientific research is not easy work. It requires exposure to the literature on bias. It means slowing down the experimental design and taking stock of the methodological approaches. It is helped by exposure to scholars who specialize in this field. Sowmya’s outward looking approach also means that patient engagement and patient voices are embedded in research proposals.
o Have you ever paused in your research design and considered whether your approach took into consideration EDI issues?
o How could EDI principles challenge your approach to develop your research?
o Can you identify some research leaders in your field who are embracing this approach and are challenging conversations about embedding EDI principles?
o Can you share with others how you are approaching this yourself? When have you paused to think about this? What have you done about it? How has this changed your research methodology?
Becoming a principal Investigator
Her research niche was not completely set from the start. Early on, it brought together 3 different areas of interest, then it evolved organically as her research team developed and her curiosity oriented her towards new directions. The initial research focus was important in showcasing her expertise and ability to deliver research projects, but also in giving confidence to the academic recruiters. Later, collaborations and side projects have fuelled her research explorations enabling her to expand the scope of her projects.
Receiving effective feedback on grant proposals is not always easy to access for early career academics. Sowmya had the privilege of being supported by an experienced academic and grant reviewer who worked with her to deconstruct one of her grants and build it back together. This experience of being supported in the fine details of constructing an impactful grant have shown her what real mentorship can look like. She describes this grant writing mentor as very empathetic, but also generous with their time. They provided a lot of time across many interactions to offer constructive criticism that would allow her to really understand what putting together an impactful grant is like. This powerful interaction has shaped her own approach to mentoring others.
Sowmya’s style as a research group leader aims to embrace individuals with the idiosyncratic nature of their cultural and personal context. She shares with her teams aspects of her life to create the psychological safety needed for her team members to be themselves. She pays great care of personalising the environment, meaning sharing food from different cultures, having team lunches, celebrating birthdays or baby showers or giving a send-off when team members are leaving. Attention to the personal is often perceived as superfluous by busy research group leaders, who are already so overworked. However, the research team culture built through caring for the personal is a powerful tool for leaders to demonstrate that research team members matter. With the flux of researchers in groups, it could be so easy to not bother with all these side elements and only focus on the work. Trust is built in many small actions. Paying attention to the personal and creating a sense of community in a research group is a powerful tool to empower team members build trust and do their best work.
o What is happening in your own research group when it comes to creating a sense of community?
o Do you host regular social gatherings that enable the strengthening of relationships between team members?
o How could you tweak the way team meetings are held that would give space to the “personal” as a way of connecting team members beyond the research conversations?
“People come from different cultures and certain things or ways of talking are taken or are considered disrespectful. So being sensitive to other people’s cultures and what you might say, which seems very matter of fact, but is very offensive to someone else. You have to think about how they receive it, rather than how you say it. I think that kind of sensitivity training is also very helpful”
