Sanofi is partnering with Howard University to hire full-time employees straight from the historically Black college as part of the Big Pharma’s push to address disparities in underrepresented communities.
The collaboration is the first time an industry partner has established a post-fellowship employment program with the Howard University College of Pharmacy, according to a July 26 release.
Sanofi's postdoctorate fellowship program, set to start in the second half of 2022, will recruit 10 Howard University College of Pharmacy graduate students for two years of practical learning experiences across multiple research and development fields.
The collaboration will let Sanofi foster the next generation of scientists from historically underrepresented communities, said John Reed, M.D., Ph.D., global head of R&D at Sanofi. He said the French pharma knows a diverse workforce is strongly linked to creativity, successful problem solving and innovation.
“The Sanofi fellowship will allow promising graduates to gain real-world experience while contributing to a field that has historically overlooked and undervalued people of color,” said Anthony Wutoh, Ph.D., provost and chief academic officer at Howard University.
The fellowship program is part of Sanofi’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) strategy. In June 2021, the company identified new strategic objectives it hopes to achieve by 2025. The objectives are based around three targets: building representative leadership, creating a work environment where employees can be their whole selves and engaging with diverse communities. Earlier this year, Sanofi also formed a DE&I board and created the Global Employee Resource Groups framework.
Several other major pharmaceutical companies have launched diversity efforts, including a $17.7 million 10-year investment from Novartis last month. The money aims to address racial inequalities in clinical trials at historically Black medical schools, including Howard University. The Swiss pharma also set up a collaboration last year with 26 historically Black U.S. schools, dubbed the "Beacon of Hope" initiative, an effort Sanofi has also joined.