06/10/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/10/2021 09:09
Media Advisory
Thursday, June 10, 2021
In a commentary in Cell, scientists, administrators, staff and leaders from the National Institutes of Health set forth a framework to end structural racism across the biomedical research enterprise and spur much needed widescale, systematic changes. Known as the UNITE initiative, it represents the first time all NIH Institutes and Centers are jointly focused on structural racism in biomedical science - both within the agency and throughout the biomedical workforce, as well as in the research NIH supports.
Recognizing that NIH-led diversity and inclusion programs have been valuable but not sufficient, the authors describe actions in process or planned to expand NIH efforts to the scale and scope essential to creating a more equitable ecosystem across biomedical science. These actions are informed and shaped by the five interacting committees of the NIH UNITE consortia, and include:
Collins, FS et al. Affirming NIH's commitment to addressing structural racism in the biomedical research enterprise. Cell. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.05.014 (2021).
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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