Feature Channels: Race and Ethnicity

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Using data from diverse populations around the world, researchers have developed an algorithm to help predict the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease based on genetic information in patients with a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds. While additional ethnicities should be included in future studies, this work aims to eliminate disparities in diagnosis of the disease.

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A new study from researchers at the American Cancer Society found that Black cancer survivors in the United States experience a higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared with White cancer survivors.

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A new study conducted by researchers at the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity at the George Washington University (GW) Milken Institute School of Public Health, and the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) identifies institutional characteristics associated with public health student diversity, including faculty diversity. The research, covering a five-year time period from 2016-2020, shows that - despite an upward trend in diversity in the public health educational pipeline - minority students remain underrepresented.

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Las personas que pertenecen a grupos minoritarios raciales y étnicos tienen menos probabilidades de recibir atención médica mental que las personas blancas. La Dra. Anna Solt, psiquiatra de Cedars-Sinai, comentó que el limitado acceso a la atención de la salud mental, los estigmas culturales e incluso las creencias estereotipadas dentro de una cultura pueden causar barreras para el tratamiento de la salud mental.

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A Wayne State University School of Medicine professor has received a $3 million award from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health to develop an intervention aimed at improving health outcomes in Black youth with type 1 diabetes.

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People belonging to racial and ethnic minority groups are less likely than white people to receive mental healthcare.

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The research underscores the limitations of the health care system’s frequent reliance on broad self-reported race and ethnicity data to assess patients’ risk of developing disease, and the findings also support expanding genetic screening to more groups.

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MedStar Washington Hospital Center is the most socially responsible hospital in Washington, D.C. and is among the top in the nation, according to the Lown Institute. The 2023-24 Lown Institute Hospitals Index evaluated more than 3,600 hospitals nationwide, and MedStar Washington ranked #1 in D.C. and is among 54 U.S. hospitals to earn Honor Roll status with “A” grades in all top categories: Social Responsibility, Health Equity, Value of Care, and Patient Outcomes. It also named MedStar Washington the most racially inclusive hospital in the District.

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High rates of smoking among people with HIV are associated with high rates of comorbid health problems – which are associated with characteristics including gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, according to a study in the July issue of The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (JANAC). The official journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, JANAC is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

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Chicago health systems RUSH and UChicago Medicine are making available a free self-assessment tool that uses a race-conscious approach to help hospitals benchmark health equity efforts for all patients. Created after the COVID 19 pandemic revealed disproportionate racial and ethnic mortality rates, the effort is supported by a Commonwealth Fund grant and was piloted at hospitals across Illinois.

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Skin lightening is prevalent in the U.S. among skin of color individuals – particularly women – but the people who use those products don’t know the risks, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.

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Study represents a major milestone toward health equity for underrepresented populations in Alzheimer’s disease research

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Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer mortality in women and the primary cause of cancer death among Hispanic women, according to the National Cancer Institute. The Center of Emphasis in Cancer focuses on forms of the disease prevalent in our majority-Hispanic Borderplex, seeking new strategies for the prevention and treatment of the deadly disease.

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Study on Hispanic mental health perspectives paves way for better treatment engagement

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Dylan Thompson is used to feeling out of place. In high school, he was one of the only Black students in his advanced classes. When he started at the University of Miami, he again found himself as one of the only Black students in his pre-med classes. Relief came for him, though, in the form of the Diversity in Cancer Research Internship Program at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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A leading forensic nurse researcher has developed new approaches to detecting bruises in patients with darker skin tones – thus helping to overcome barriers to diagnosing injuries in patients of color, according to a special article on nurse innovators in the July issue of the American Journal of Nursing (AJN). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

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Melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, is highly treatable when detected early, but when the disease advances, it can lead to death. A new article published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology reveals that men with melanoma — and particularly men with skin of color — are more likely to die than women with melanoma.

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Moffitt Cancer Center has named Brian D. Gonzalez, Ph.D., as the inaugural associate center director of Research Diversity and Workforce Development. In the new role, Gonzalez will lead efforts to increase diversity among Moffitt’s research faculty, staff and trainees, working in collaboration with the offices of Enterprise Equity; Community Outreach, Engagement & Equity; and Research Education & Training. He will also develop and implement the cancer center’s Plan to Enhance Diversity. This initiative is a new requirement from the National Cancer Institute to show that the workforce of an NCI-designated cancer center reflects the populations of the communities that it serves.

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People seeking mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic were not deterred by the widespread shift to telehealth services, according to research findings published in the Journal of Counseling & Development, a journal of the American Counseling Association.

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Cancer Disparities: A new African Cancer Genome Registry at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in Miami seeks to find reasons for higher prostate and breast cancer rates in people of African ancestry. Dr. Sophia George, co-principal investigator, is available for interviews, as are two breast and prostate cancer study participants.

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Age-related cognitive decline and the escalating prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease are pressing social challenges as the population of those 65 and older continues to expand. Age is the primary risk factor, but research has shown that social and structural determinants of health play significant roles in the higher incidence of Alzheimer’s among marginalized communities.

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The following experts from American University have availability and can discuss the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision for higher education and society at large.

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As the summer migrant labor season is in full swing in the U.S., health inequities and other social disparities that affect these communities become more visible. Over 3 million people in the U.S. work temporarily or seasonally in farm fields, orchards, canneries, plant nurseries, fish/seafood/meat packing plants, and more.

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Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and colleagues in Latin America found that early identification of clinical deterioration saves lives, especially in hospitals with the greatest need.

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The US is home to more international migrants than any other country. But even though immigration is an actively debated topic, immigrants are poorly understood.

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Many Americans can trace some lines of their family tree back to the 1600s. However, African Americans descended from enslaved Africans, who began arriving in North America in 1619, lack ancestral information spanning several centuries.

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U.S. Black women have a disproportionately higher burden of both preeclamptic pregnancy and stroke compared with white women, but virtually all existing evidence on the association between the two medical conditions has come from studies of white women.

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ASBMB applauds NIH's proposed changes to the NRSA grant application including removal of grades, inclusion of applicant special circumstance statement and reviewer bias training

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A new study conducted by researchers at Bar-Ilan University in Israel has shed light on the long-term impact of COVID-19 on the quality of life among different ethnic groups in the country. The study, part of a larger cohort project, highlights a significant discrepancy between Arabs and Druze, and Jews, with the two former groups experiencing a more pronounced decline in quality of life one year after infection.

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Despite historical strides and the important perspectives Black psychological researchers offer to their field, the contributions of Black psychologists have been left out of many foundational teachings in psychology, according to the journal American Psychologist.

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Building on its visionary investment in Cedars-Sinai’s neurosurgery scholarship program, The Ray Charles Foundation has donated a second gift of $1 million to support critical training and research to advance the neurosciences.

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University of Utah political scientist Baodong Liu served as an expert witness in a consequential voting rights case decided on June 8 by the U.S. Supreme Court. The decision in Allen v. Milligan, No. 21-1086 rejected Alabama’s congressional redistricting map because it disenfranchises African-American voters. What follows is a Q&A with Professor Liu about the issues in the case.

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Newswise offers a roundup of the latest expert commentary on the recent decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Expertos de Cedars-Sinai, BlackDoctors.org, California Black Women's Health Project y Morehouse School of Medicine recientemente participaron en una discusión que abordó la alta tasa de muertes relacionadas con el embarazo entre las madres negras.

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Experts from Cedars-Sinai, BlackDoctors.org, the California Black Women’s Health Project and the Morehouse School of Medicine participated in a recent discussion that addressed the high rate of pregnancy-related deaths among Black mothers.

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Derogatory stereotypes constitute a clear form of discrimination, but an absence of information about a group in mainstream society can also communicate a lack of respect. That is the case for Native Americans, who are often underrepresented in media and policy discussions. In a recent Psychological Science study, researchers found that Native American adults who identified more strongly as Native were more likely to notice group omission and discrimination, prompting increased civic engagement.

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Researchers examined time trends and racial inequities in infant mortality, low birth weight and preterm births from 2007 to 2019. Results showed that from 2014 to 2019 infant mortality fell, while low birth weight and preterm births rose. For all three indicators, researchers reported significant inequities between white and Black infants. When compared with white infants, Black infants experienced a significant twofold greater infant mortality and low birth weight and one-and-a-half times greater preterm birth rate.

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Today, AACC—in collaboration with the National Kidney Foundation (NKF)—released guidance to reduce racial and gender disparities in the care of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The document gives members of the healthcare team actionable, evidence-based tools to improve equity in kidney health, including recommendations for using an updated algorithm that does not disproportionately affect any one group of individuals.

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A new study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer, University of California, Irvine and Baylor College of Medicine has created the world’s largest and most comprehensive map of normal breast tissue, providing an unprecedented understanding of mammary biology that may help identify therapeutic targets for diseases such as breast cancer. The Human Breast Cell Atlas, published today in Nature, used single-cell and spatial genomic methods to profile more than 714,000 cells from 126 women. The breast atlas highlights 12 major cell types and 58 biological cell states, and identifies differences based on ethnicity, age and the menopause status of healthy women.

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El estigma afecta todos los aspectos de la atención de la epilepsia, desde el diagnóstico y el tratamiento hasta la legislación y las asignaciones presupuestarias. Un estudio realizado en los Estados Unidos encontró que un tercio de los participantes informaron que el estigma, no las convulsiones en sí, era la parte más difícil de vivir con epilepsia.

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University of Notre Dame assistant professor of sociology Steven Alvarado used 35 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth from 1979 to 2014 to study what happened when multiple generations of Black, white and Latino families lived on one side of the tracks versus the other. He and his co-author found that Black families — regardless of where they lived — still ended up in similar economic circumstances as they moved into adulthood and entered the workforce. 

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The ACUE has honored the university for providing faculty with a foundation for delivering excellent instruction through evidence-based, equitable teaching practices.

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While gender, racial and ethnic diversity bring value to U.S. companies, research from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business found that diverse educational, industrial and organizational experiences among managers and board members leads to R&D innovation creating economic and social value.