Equity, Diversity, Inclusion &
Accessibility Hub
Overview
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA) are foundational to TRIDENT’s mandate as a national, multi-site platform advancing preclinical neurotherapeutics. A diverse research ecosystem strengthens scientific rigor, improves translational relevance, and ensures that innovation reflects the populations it ultimately serves.
Since the start of the grant, TRIDENT's approach to EDIA evolved from a set of founding commitments into a structured, operational program with defined accountability mechanisms and measurable outputs. At the platform level, it shaped the culture and structure of the research community while deepening collaboration and engagement across researchers, trainees, and partners. At the research level, it embedded EDIA directly into experimental methodology through the systematic inclusion of both sexes across all model systems and the extension of sex-based analysis into hormone-dependent experimental designs.
EDIA Principles
1. Diverse representation is fundamental to TRIDENT’s mission. By bringing
together voices, perspectives, and experiences from different backgrounds,
TRIDENT strengthens its ability to address complex scientific questions and develop
solutions that reflect the needs of society. Representation is not simply a matter of
fairness, but a cornerstone of innovation, collaboration, and translational impact.
Without it, TRIDENT cannot fully achieve its vision of excellence in research and
leadership in the global neuroscience community.
2. We take ownership in addressing barriers to full participation. TRIDENT
acknowledges the challenges that remain in achieving meaningful inclusion of
members of underrepresented groups, including women, racialized groups,
Indigenous peoples, LGBTQ2S+ people, and people with disabilities. We are
committed to identifying and dismantling these barriers within our research
ecosystem.
3. Equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility are collective responsibilities.
Building an equitable, diverse, and inclusive TRIDENT community is the
responsibility of every member and can be informed by the experiences of
individuals from underrepresented groups, while acknowledging the emotional labor
involved in ensuring an inclusive space. Everyone plays a role in creating the
culture of respect, belonging, and excellence that drives our shared success.
4. Sex Based Analysis+ (SBA+) principles are embedded in TRIDENT’s scientific
foundation. TRIDENT standardizes the systematic inclusion of sex as a biological
variable in all aspects of research. This means that human-derived iPSCs are
generated from both male and female donors, and that all studies in animal models
include both sexes. By holding ourselves to this standard, we enhance the
reproducibility, validity, and translational relevance of our work, ensuring that
discoveries better reflect the diversity of human biology.
Governance & Oversight
The TRIDENT Director of Operations and Research Program Director, supported by the Administrative Officer, oversee the development and implementation of the TRIDENT EDIA Strategy across the TRIDENT project, reporting to the TRIDENT Executive Committee (TEC) and the project Nominated Principal Investigator (NPI). TRIDENT’s leadership bodies are composed with EDIA principles in mind, and diversity considerations are integrated into formal decision-making processes, including the TRIDENT Advisory Council (TAC) and Therapeutic Evaluation Panel (InTEP). This ensures that inclusion informs not only who participates in the research, but how strategic decisions are made.
Performance Indicators & Metrics
Fostering belonging and inclusion through continuous engagement within the
research ecosystem. Collect data to assess EDIA perceptions and experiences, and
identify gaps and areas for improvement across TRIDENT.
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KPI: Bi-annual EDIA survey, recurring focus groups
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Metrics: Survey and focus group reports
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Extending EDIA engagement to external stakeholders through advisory committees, events, and outreach.
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KPI: Qualitative and quantitative feedback survey
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Metrics: Event metrics, survey metrics
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Supporting access to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility training for all
project members. Training will include awareness of authorship and citation bias, and
TRIDENT will recommend that, when possible, manuscripts include a brief statement
on the gender representation of cited authors. Progress can be benchmarked
against the authorship distributions reported by Dworkin et al. (2020) in Nature
Neuroscience (link) showing 58.4% man/man, 9.4% man/woman, 25.5%
woman/man, and 6.7% woman/woman first/last author pairings in top neuroscience
journals. TRIDENT will encourage improved representation in its outputs to move
beyond these field benchmarks.
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KPI: Addressing citation bias through training, awareness, and recommended reporting in publications when possible
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Metrics: Event metrics, survey metrics, proportion of manuscripts that include citation bias statements when possible
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Promoting SBA+ integration across TRIDENT research by facilitating therapeutic
testing in both sexes and supporting the inclusion of male and female iPSCs and
animal models in study design and analysis to enhance rigor and translational
impact.
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KPI: Proportion of TRIDENT studies that include both sexes in design and analysis
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Metrics: Assessment of TRIDENT publications for SBA+ incorporation