ELRIG UK launches equality, diversity, and inclusion guiding principles at Drug Discovery 2021

The European Laboratory Research & Innovation Group (ELRIG) UK has announced it will launch its equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) guiding principles at Drug Discovery 2021. The principles were developed with the support of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Science and Health (EDIS), a coalition of organizations working to improve EDI within the science and health research sectors, and the ELRIG community. To promote the initiative, EDIS will host a series of EDI workshops at Drug Discovery 2021—a free-to-attend, in-person event which will take place at the Exhibition Centre ACC in Liverpool, UK, from 19–20 October.

ELRIG UK aims to be an inclusive organization that provides high-quality and accessible content to a diverse scientific community. The EDI guiding principles have been developed to implement this initiative, and promote inclusivity, engagement, and collaboration in the drug discovery field. To ensure representative principles, external guidance and viewpoints were collated following an EDI workshop discussion, which included panelists from EDIS as well as pharma, research institutes, academia, and scientific journals from across the ELRIG community, which comprises over 12,000 life science professionals.

To further strengthen the EDI initiative within the drug discovery community, EDIS will host a series of workshops at ELRIG UK’s Drug Discovery 2021, led by Dr. Lilian Hunt, EDIS Lead. The program includes:

• Inclusive Research and Experimental Design – Tuesday 19th October, 12:30 to 13:30
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: Awareness to Action – Wednesday 20th October, 13:00 to 14:00
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: Expectations and Impact in Procurement – Wednesday 20th October, 8:00 to 8:30

Clare Viney, Board Member of ELRIG UK, Chair of People & Culture Work Group and CEO of The Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC), said: “ELRIG UK is committed to ensuring that our events continue to be representative of our diverse community. We have worked closely with EDIS to develop our EDI guiding principles, and we are proud to present these at Drug Discovery 2021 event. This is widely recognized as Europe’s largest meeting place on drug discovery applications and represents a significant opportunity to raise awareness of the initiative and improve inclusivity and collaboration throughout the drug discovery community.”

Dr. Lilian Hunt, EDIS Lead, said: “EDI remains a critical focus for the life science and health research sectors and an increasing number of organizations are working to improve culture and research. As an established leader in the field, ELRIG UK is well-positioned to drive significant change for equality, diversity, and inclusivity in the drug discovery community, as well as inclusive research and experimental design. We are pleased to work alongside the team in supporting its EDI initiative at this year’s Drug Discovery event.”

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