DIVERSITY, EQUITY & SOCIAL JUSTICE IN CLINICAL & TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH
THE CCTST IS COMMITTED TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY & SOCIAL JUSTICE IN CLINICAL & TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH
Dear Friends,
​This is an incredibly challenging time. We have witnessed disparate rates of deaths from COVID-19 in Black Americans and other communities of color. In addition, the recent horrendous acts of violence perpetrated against Black Americans have highlighted the structural inequalities caused by centuries of racism that persist in our country and community. The societal and public health crisis of racism has implications on social determinants of health, well-being, opportunities, and contributes to disparities in care in health outcomes, and research opportunities.
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The CCTST is committed to promoting diversity, equity, and social justice in clinical and translational research. To that end, we will recommit to pipeline programs and training that lead to a diverse translational research workforce; invest in research focused on the impact of bias on health outcomes, processes/methods for recruiting, retaining, and engaging marginalized populations in research, and disseminating and implementing patient/community-engaged solutions that promotes health equity and reduces health disparities. We will also promote and invest in research focused on structural factors and social determinants of health. Only then can we truly achieve our vision of reducing disparities and improving equity in our community.
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Sincerely,
Jareen Meinzen-Derr, PhD, Jessica Kahn, MD, Achala Vagal, MD & Jeff Strawn, MD on behalf of the CCTST
COMMUNITY VOICES
We connected with individuals from our Greater Cincinnati community to listen to their thoughts on social unrest and research to understand how we as researchers can do better. Here’s what our community had to say:
How can researchers help promote social justice and reduce health disparities?
What do you want to hear from research staff about the social unrest?
FIVE STEPS TO PROMOTE DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION
Below are the five steps we are currently taking to promote diversity and equity while developing a comprehensive strategy:
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Promoting diversity in clinical and translational workforce development pipeline
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Continued support of the Biomedical Research Internship for Minority Students (BRIMS) program for high school seniors and college freshman (click here for details).
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Implemented a strategy for promoting diversity in early career researchers through our KL2 program (click here for details).
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Equitable approach to recruitment and enrollment for Covid-19 research
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Implementing an equitable approach to recruitment and enrollment for COVID-19 research across the academic health center (AHC) knowing that Black and Hispanic communities have been hit hardest by the pandemic.
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Integrating diversity and equity into education and training
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CCTST provides a Grand Round series for clinical and translational researchers. We commit to focus at least 25% of presentations on health equity topics.
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Hiring a consultant to train research faculty in implicit bias and strategies for dismantling racism to build a community of practice to advance health equity research
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Developing a graduate course on racism in research
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Continuing to support and invest in a Health Equity Day and partner which will include partnering with the community regarding solutions to the healthcare and research challenges faced by our community
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Supporting health equity research at our academic health center
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Gathering resources to help researchers build knowledge and skills to enable them to conduct research that promotes health equity (click here for details).
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Promoting local research related to health equity to our community
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Disseminating local research related to health equity back to the community.
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