Inclusion and Belonging

The mission of the working group is to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging by actively working towards these goals via student engagement with the community at Stanford and the Bay Area, as well as increasing the diversity of the students within the Cancer Biology Program.

Photo from the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Breast Cancer Benefit Walk in San Francisco, October 16, 2022

Currently, the Cancer Biology Racial and Social Justice Working Group (CBIO R&SJ WG) has three different subgroups: 

  1. Admissions
  2. Outreach/Service
  3. Seminar Series 

These are the current outreach/service initiatives that are CBIO student-led: 

  • McClymonds High School Partnership: Students in the CBIO program are working on in-person workshops for the science classes at McClymonds High School in Oakland. The goals of these workshops are 1. To introduce students to the different educational paths for their career aspirations, 2. To have hands-on workshops to understand scientific concepts such as cancer biology, virus transmission, and science literacy. This work is on-going, and we are currently looking for volunteers throughout the Stanford Cancer Institute! 
  • Global Oncology: Global Oncology is an organization focused on achieving more equitable cancer care throughout the world. CBIO students are involved in fundraising activities, adapting the HPV/cervical cancer comic book for American audiences, and increasing the social media presence/reach of the organization. 
  • The Shanti Project: The Shanti Project is a San Francisco-based nonprofit that provides companions and healthcare navigators to cancer patients. As CBIO students, we support the staff at the Shanti Project by presenting an overview about different cancer types, treatments, and new advances in the field. Currently, we need volunteers from the CBIO program and throughout the Stanford Cancer Institute.
  • The CBIO PhD Preview Program: Started by CBIO students Irene Li, Diego Almanza, and Emily Ashkin, the Preview Program aims to increase the diversity of applicants to Biosciences PhD programs by helping primarily Underrepresented Minority (URM) students with their graduate school applications. 
  • The Stanford Cancer Biology PhD program is inviting talented individuals from underrepresented in academia or sciences to participate in a one-day, graduate application workshop. Join us for a day of *virtual* workshops led by current graduate students. Receive advice on submitting a competitive application to graduate programs and learn how to develop your own career as a scientist. Applicants will be paired with a graduate student in the Cancer Biology program to go through application workshops and intensive editing sessions. Additionally, applicants may have the opportunity to partake in casual practice interviews with Cancer Biology faculty members.
  • Please note that participation in this preview program is not a requirement for prospective Stanford Cancer Biology applicants, nor is it a guarantee of being accepted into the PhD program.

    All applicants are welcome. We are especially looking for students from historically excluded backgrounds who are passionate about studying cancer biology. Applicants should be U.S. citizens or permanent residents planning to apply for graduate study for the upcoming cycle. Undocumented and DACA-mented students are welcome to apply.
  • Application link:  https://bit.ly/cbiopreview
  • Application Deadline: October 13th, 2024
  • Workshop weekend: November 10th, 2024