Colleagues and Friends,

My first full month as ASTCT President has flown by, but our community accomplished a lot.

We continued to make progress on our commitment to foster a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment for our leaders and members. First, we improved our member profile settings to help us better understand the people we care about most, our members. These improvements include fields to add your ethnicity, pronouns, gender identity, and other preferences related to this effort. We look forward to knowing more about you and encourage you to update your profile to maximize your ASTCT member experience.

On March 26, we observed the #StopAsianHate Virtual Day of Action and Healing. March 26 represents the day in 1790 that the Naturalization Act was signed into law, prohibiting non-white people from becoming citizens of the United States. On March 26, 2021, we strove to raise awareness and elevate dialogue that supports the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in America and around the globe.

Finally, March was Women’s History Month, and we were thrilled to spotlight so many influential and inspirational women in the transplantation and cellular therapy field on both Nucleus and our social channels. The six women we featured on Nucleus shared so many amazing insights, but this quote from Dianna Sue Howard, MD, really stuck with me: When asked what being a woman in this field means to her, she responded, “It means I have a responsibility to show up, be engaged, and lead.”

Thank you to all the women in this field who show up, engage and lead every single day. And thank you to our ASTCT community, which stands up for what’s right, supports one another, and builds a brighter future—for our patients, our peers and our communities.

Stella Davies, MBBS, PhD

Tags: diversity, inclusion, Womens History Month, Stop Asian Hate, Equity, President, Community