Using Science to Dismantle Racism in Medicine

Sunday, April 30, 2023

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM ET

Location: Convention Center: 206

CE: Live CME: 1.50

Selected By: SPR
Co-sponsored By: AAP, PHM

Chair(s)

Alyna Chien, MD, MS (she/her/hers)

Associate Professor, General Pediatrics
Division of General Pediatrics
Boston Children's Hospital / Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Keisha Gibson, MD MPH (she/her/hers)

Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics
Medicine and Pediatrics
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States

Session

Description: This State-of-the-Art Plenary will open with a review of how, for centuries, race has served as a poor proxy for both genetic and social risk. It will then review how two distinct lines of research—one genetic and the other sociological—
have identified true markers of genetic risk and developed validated measures of social risk phenomenon such as mistrust, discrimination, and racism. It concludes with an example of how both lines of research was used to provide a unifying approach to diagnosing kidney disease as an example of how science can be used to overcome racism in medicine via clinical algorithms. Panelists will help attendees understand key concepts such as genetic ancestry and geographic ancestry rather than the race essentialism (i.e., the belief that racial groups reflect discrete genetic categories).

This session is put forth by the Society of Pediatric Research PAS Program Content Workgroup and addresses the PAS Theme: Addressing & Overcoming Racism in Clinical Care and Research.

Learning Objectives:

Understand the history of the concept of race and of racial essentialism in medicine.
Understand modern concepts of genetic and geographic ancestry and be able to name at least one validated method for measuring social risks for poor health.
Have insight into how modern concepts of genetic and social risk can be applied to medical decision-making today.

Presentations:

11:00 AM – 11:05 AM ET

Moderator introduction to panel and presenters
Speaker: Alyna T. Chien, MD, MS (she/her/hers) – Boston Children's Hospital / Harvard Medical School
Speaker: Keisha L. Gibson, MD MPH (she/her/hers) – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
11:05 AM – 11:15 AM ET

How did we get here?
Speaker: Joseph L. Wright, MD MPH – University of Maryland Schools of Medicine and Public Health
11:15 AM – 11:35 AM ET

Examining Ancestry and Disease in the Age of Genomic Medicine
Speaker: Chris Gignoux, PhD, MS (he/him/his) – University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
11:35 AM – 11:55 AM ET

Examining Social Risk Factors Directly
Speaker: Naomi Priest, PhD (she/her/hers) – Australian National University
11:55 AM – 12:15 PM ET

An Example of Using Science to Overcome Racism in a Clinical Algorithm: The GFR Story
Speaker: Marva Moxey-Mims, MD (she/her/hers) – Children's National Hospital
12:15 PM – 12:30 PM ET

Panel Q & A