We, the members of the Shalek Lab, all are cognizant of how unique and special our time is together. We all aim to foster and promote an inclusive, interdisciplinary lab environment that provides holistic scientific training in the conduct of research and its dissemination, and that helps to develop future leaders. We appreciate that each member of the lab has chosen to invest a significant portion of their lives, during a critical formative period, in building this community and furthering its mission. Recognizing these contributions, we, individually and collectively, strive to provide the intellectual, emotional, and physical support needed for each individual to achieve their scientific, personal and professional goals. We inform our efforts with the values (in bold) listed below.

  • We are deeply invested in and committed to our personal, scientific and professional growth, and that of others.  
  • We create an environment of trust by being transparent, open, and honest about our goals, needs, feelings, and struggles.
  • We are committed to being respectful, kind, and considerate to one another
  • We recognize that being open-minded, curious, rigorous, excellent, fair, equitable, engaged, and empowering pushes each of us to become not only better scientists, but also better citizens. 
  • When one person succeeds, we all succeed. We similarly recognize that failure is an important part of the learning process and that it will happen, and we support one another through each of these challenges.
  • We build a culture of collaboration by supporting each other, ensuring that everyone is recognized for the work they do, creating an accommodating and adaptive environment, and being willing to hold ourselves, and each other, accountable to our agreements. 
  • We promote a sense of belonging across all identities represented among our lab, collaborators, and our larger communities through active listening, allyship, open dialogue, compassion, self-education, and reflection
  • We recognize that systemic racism is an issue in both academia and society at large, and we are wholeheartedly committed to being active anti-racists.
  • We know that our work impacts global human health. We are committed to engaging equitably with each other and our partners as thoughtful and ethical citizens.

These investments in ourselves, each other, and the lab help us collectively grow and succeed in science and beyond.