As a lab, we study diseases that impact people around the world, collaborating extensively with local and global partners. We recognize each partner is an equal contributor and strongly believe that it is our responsibility to center their hopes and needs and ensure that they derive equal or greater benefit from our joint activities. We are committed to enabling equitable engagement through active training, capacity creation, outreach, and dialogue.
Since 2014, we have organized and lead in-person and virtual meetings and workshops around the world to train scientists in cutting-edge experimental and computational methods. With the Human Cell Atlas (where Alex co-leads the equity working group), we have also helped fund, design, and guide remote and hands-on single-cell genomics training workshops on four continents. We also welcome a constant flux of external trainees, and members of our lab have worked and taught around the globe.
To improve equity in access to single-cell genomic methods, we codeveloped Seq-Well (Gierahn, Nature Methods, 2017), a low-cost single-cell RNA-seq platform that can be run anywhere, improving equity in access to state-of-the-art techniques. We have set up Seq-Well and related methods in labs that span six continents.
Through these activities, we have introduced relevant wet and dry lab experimental methods, as well as the fundamentals (e.g., commonly used programming languages) required to implement them. Where possible, we have recorded these activities to create an accessible library for the community. Below, we provide some of these resources.
2024, May 21-25: In-person snRNA-seq Workshop with Institut Pasteur de Dakar (Dakar, Senegal, computational training materials linked here, experimental training materials linked here)
2026, March 29-April 1: In-person computational Workshop (Dhaka, Bangladesh)
Past meetings and events:
2019 HCA Equity Roadshow (São Paulo, Brazil)
2019 HCA Equity Roadshow (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
2022 Virtual International Training Workshop on Single Cell Transcriptomics (India)
To view additional HCA events and resources, click here
If you are interested in working with us to set up a training, please email us at shaleklab [at] gmail [dot] com and we will get back to you soon!
During an international computational workshop in Bangladesh, Shalek Lab members visited local communities with collaborators at CHRF.Celebrating International Women’s Day at Shalek Lab-lead training workshop in Accra, Ghana.Shalek Lab members pose for a group shot with colleagues at the MISTI First Single-Cell RNA-Seq Workshop. Bogotá, Colombia, 2024Sarah demonstrating the lab’s approach to the science and sequencing that can be done anywhere in the world; here, in Accra, Ghana, 2023.
