In a statement issued on March 1, 2021, the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that NIH has “launched an effort to end structural racism and racial inequities in biomedical research.” This effort is, in part, a response to President Biden’s January 20, 2021, Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.
Francis S. Collins, MD, Ph.D, the director of NIH, said in the statement that structural racism in science has “been allowed to endure for over four centuries” and that “[t]o those individuals in the biomedical research enterprise who have endured disadvantages due to structural racism, I am truly sorry.”
Dr. Collins notes that NIH has tried to support “programs to improve the diversity of the scientific workforce with the goal of harnessing the complete intellectual capital of the nation” but that “[t]hese efforts, however, have not been sufficient.”
NIH has also launched a new webpage, Ending Structural Racism, which observes that NIH’s efforts to achieve a “scientific workforce diversity are hindered by organizational structures, systems, and policies that perpetuate exclusion and inequity based on race.” NIH says that “organizational structures, policies, practices, and social norms that perpetuate bias, prejudice, discrimination, and racism limit the pace of scientific progress.”
Specifically:
"[s]tructural racism has resulted in persistent health disparities, poor health status, and premature mortality as demonstrated by the current disproportionate burden of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19. Within the biomedical research enterprise, structural and institutional racism has resulted in inequitable access to funding, training, and workforce opportunities."
Dr. Collins acknowledged that “[i]dentifying and dismantling racist components of a system that has been hundreds of years in the making is no easy task.” NIH says, however, that it welcomes feedback on its efforts to address systemic racism in science.
thelawoflifesciences.com 