Dear ATRI Community,

The recent tragedies of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor demand that we all address the injustice in our society. These terrible events have occurred in the midst of a pandemic which is disproportionately affecting communities of color. These events are symptoms of the unacceptable societal inequalities that contribute to poorer health for people of color in the United States. We must be united in our pursuit of positive change. At USC ATRI and the ACTC, we are committed to a culture of equality, inclusiveness and diversity. Racism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated in any form. We must intensify our efforts to address inequities in clinical research and work toward positive change in our society. In our role as Alzheimer’s researchers, we will renew our commitment to unity, collaboration and collective action. We have a moral imperative to eradicate overt and implicit bias, and the conduct of rigorous clinical research demands this. We are committed to diversity in recruiting our study participants, as this is the only way we can find answers which serve the health needs of all people. A more diverse workforce enables us to have the most committed and agile minds focused on our very challenging tasks. We can and will do better.

Sincerely,

ATRI Team