Our lab philosophy

Eva and Grant are working on this; and as usual, the PIs are holding everything up, bear with us….

Mental health

Everyone has mental health; it can be in a good or not so good place at times. Struggling with your mental health is nothing to be embarassed about and it is okay to ask for help; just like if you have physical health issues, e.g. you would go to a doctor and not try to ‘get on with things’ whilst hopping around on a broken leg.

LSTM is offering several courses to highten awareness and train managers to better spot mental health issues, be able to help in the first conversation and if appropriate link people with professional help, and reduce the still widespread stigma around mental health issues. Eva is now a trained iACT manager, part of LSTM’s Mental Health Champions, and a fully accredited Mental Health First Aider by the MHFAEngland. Cintia very kindly used one of our lab meetings to highlight mental health support available around LSTM as well as other tips to increase your wellbeing; and we will repeat a session like this as time goes by in our lab meetings to keep everyone up to date.

As academia can be very frustrating; here are some mental health comics several of us find very helpful to keep us grounded at times; TheAwkwardYeti (also on twitter), BuddyGator (also on twitter and instagram) and of course the wonderful Dinos (also on twitter and instagram). Eva is furthermore a continuous supporter of To Write Love on Her Arms, a mental health charity with great online resources such as blogs and a mood tracking app.

Activities around Research Integrity and an Inclusive Work Environment

Eva is part of the working group on measures against Parachute Research which included workshops and meetings, resulting in the publication of a consensus statement proposing the adoption of a reflexivity statement to be added to manuscript submissions. She furthermore promoted this in Microbial Genomics in her function as editor and initiated a questionnaire for inclusivity in the society. The Microbiology Society is now working implement this and other changes highlighted in our questionnaire in all its journals.

Together with Lindsay Troughton from the Research Governance office, Eva initiated and is co-chair of the Research Integrity Working Group at LSTM which aims to support implementation of activities on Research Integrity. She was furthermore part of the working group setting up an improved Image Use Policy for LSTM, specifically targeting problematic storytelling like ‘Poverty Porn’ and ‘White Saviour’; and consent for images taken especially from children / vulnerable populations; and is the co-chair of LSTM’s Research Ethics Committee.

LSTM furthermore has a network of Black, Asian and Minority staff and students and an LGBTQ+ staff and student network both of which Eva is associate member of to support and promote the activities, such as the recent race review action planning meeting which Eva took part in; a strategy meeting to plan actions for change, following the independent report into race equity within LSTM.