April 30, 2020

by Dawn Wayman

Dear NIH Family,

This May, NIH joins the nation in commemorating Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. This year’s theme, Uniting NIH by Empowering People to Advance Equity, aligns with the work of the Federal Asian Pacific American Council’s "Unite" series, which has focused on diversity, inclusion, and leadership to advance the AAPI community.

As we celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I invite you to visit the NIH Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion’s (EDI) website at www.edi.nih.gov to view its online campaign celebrating the accomplishments of scientific leaders from the AAPI community at NIH. Each of these individuals has made remarkable contributions to the advancement of biomedical research at NIH and throughout the world.

I am particularly excited about the incredible work Dr. Zhiyong Lu and his colleagues have done in their development of the LitCovid open-resource literature hub. This repository provides vital information to our colleagues throughout the world on the biology of the COVID-19 virus as well as the diagnosis and management of those who have been infected. Given this moment in our history, I am sure each of you can understand why I am so proud of this work.

You can support the Portfolio for Asian American and Pacific Islanders and get involved in the efforts to improve the outreach, recruitment, retention, and the advancement of AAPI and other diverse populations at NIH. For more information, please contact Dawn M. Wayman in EDI’s Special Emphasis Portfolio Branch at waymandm@mail.nih.gov.

Sincerely yours,

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.
Director

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