Sponsored by Cell Symposia & The American Association of Immunologists
Health disparities among socially disadvantaged populations are significant and research demonstrates that they are persistent even when controlling for factors like food security and insurance coverage. Social psychological theorizing posits culture, context, intergroup dynamics, and structural factors (systemic racism) as major contributors to disparate health outcomes. Educating our health systems about structural inequities is thus necessary to address health disparities. We developed an anti-racism curriculum to educate our institution (MMCRI) on how systemic racism impacts biomedical and health services research. Our curriculum is founded on respect, humility and compassion to facilitate a safe space for discourse around often difficult topics. Phase I of the curriculum establishes a common vocabulary for facets of systemic racism like white privilege and implicit bias. Phase II examines systemic racism in biomedical science and healthcare. In biweekly meetings, experts and individuals with lived experience lead didactics (e.g., history of race in science, DEI in clinical trials) and action items are developed based on our learnings. Participation increased by 250 percent since the first session, suggesting that this is a resonate model. The data also suggests that this model is successful; 62 percent of members strongly agreed this is an effective way for MMCRI to engage in anti-racist education, and 57 percent strongly agreed that their anti-racist education was positively impacted. Importantly, our model is translational; 86 percent of members reported that they could apply the learnings to their research and professional activities. Employee engagement and sense of belonging (SOB) are also positively impacted. 69 percent of members feel this work makes a very valuable contribution to MMCRI’s culture and 86 percent feel it contributes to their SOB at MMCRI and relationships with colleagues has improved. We believe our model empowers members of the biomedical community to combat systemic racism.
