This month's topic: Ethics and responsibility in environmental exposure research. Facilitated by Prof. Joe Brown, UNC-Chapel Hill, SEI core & co-lead testbeds for PreMiEr

This month's topic: "Race as a 'ghost' variable in microbiome research". Facilitated by Prof. Joseph L. Graves, Jr., NC A&T, SEI core, associate director, co-director of DCI, and co-lead of tracking tools of microbial "dark matter" for PreMiEr

"Ghost" variables are instances where variables like socially defined race are assumed to be biological and act as a proxy for a number of variables that affect microbiome research like red-lining or environmental racism. We continue this discussion by examining the executive summary of the NASEM Report "Using Population Descriptors in Genetics and Genomics Research: A New Framework for an Evolving Field". This report provides multiple recommendations to replace the use of ghost variables with more appropriate descriptors. In this upcoming Journal Club, we will review the report's recommendations and how we can apply them in our own work.

This month's topic: Cell-cultured meat: Lessons from GMO adoption and resistance. Facilitated by Ivory Blakley, research specialist at UNC-Charlotte