Rigorous science demands support of transgender scientists

Krisha Aghi; Brendan M Anderson; Bria M Castellano; Avery Cunningham; Maggie Delano; Evyn S Dickinson; Lexy von Diezmann; Sofia Kirke Forslund-Startceva; Dori M Grijseels; Sebastian S Groh; Eartha Mae Guthman; Izzy Jayasinghe; Juliet Johnston; Sam Long; Jess F McLaughlin; Maeve McLaughlin; Miriam Miyagi; Bittu Rajaraman; Fátima Sancheznieto; Ayden I Scheim; Simón E D Sun; F Dylan Titmuss; Reubs J Walsh; Zara Y Weinberg

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2024.02.021

Rigorous science demands support of transgender scientists

Cell. 2024 Mar 14;187(6):1327-1334. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.02.021.

Authors

Krisha Aghi¹, Brendan M Anderson², Bria M Castellano³, Avery Cunningham⁴, Maggie Delano⁵, Evyn S Dickinson⁶, Lexy von Diezmann⁷, Sofia Kirke Forslund-Startceva⁸, Dori M Grijseels⁹, Sebastian S Groh¹⁰, Eartha Mae Guthman¹¹, Izzy Jayasinghe¹², Juliet Johnston¹³, Sam Long¹⁴, Jess F McLaughlin¹⁵, Maeve McLaughlin¹⁶, Miriam Miyagi¹⁷, Bittu Rajaraman¹⁸, Fátima Sancheznieto¹⁹, Ayden I Scheim²⁰, Simón E D Sun²¹, F Dylan Titmuss²², Reubs J Walsh²³, Zara Y Weinberg²⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
² Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, NY, USA.
³ Sarafan ChEM-H, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
⁴ College of EPS, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
⁵ Department of Engineering, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA, USA.
⁶ Department of Neuroscience, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
⁷ Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA. Electronic address: lvondiez@umn.edu.
⁸ Experimental and Clinical Research Centre, a joint venture of Charité University Hospital and the Max Delbrück Centre, Berlin, Germany.
⁹ Social Systems and Circuits Group, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
¹⁰ Quality Enhancement Directorate, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, UK.
¹¹ Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA; Center for Applied Transgender Studies, Chicago, IL, USA.
¹² School of Biosciences, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK; Department of Molecular Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
¹³ Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
¹⁴ Denver Public Schools, Denver, CO, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA. Electronic address: mclau204@msu.edu.
¹⁷ Center for Computational Molecular Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
¹⁸ Departments of Biology and Psychology, Ashoka University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
¹⁹ Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
²⁰ Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
²¹ Center for Applied Transgender Studies, Chicago, IL, USA; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA. Electronic address: sisun@cshl.edu.
²² Department of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA.
²³ Center for Applied Transgender Studies, Chicago, IL, USA; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts & Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
²⁴ Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA.

PMID: 38490174
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.02.021

Abstract

To build a just, equitable, and diverse academy, scientists and institutions must address systemic barriers that sex and gender minorities face. This Commentary summarizes (1) critical context informing the contemporary oppression of transgender people, (2) how this shapes extant research on sex and gender, and (3) actions to build an inclusive and rigorous academy for all.

MeSH terms

Female
Gender Identity
Humans
Male
Sexual and Gender Minorities*
Transgender Persons*