Forty years ago, the infamous Tuskegee syphilis trials called attention to the disparate treatment of underrepresented (UR) populations in the U.S., prompting a major overhaul of the U.S. public healthcare system. Since 2003, Congress has mandated that the Federal government produce the annual National Healthcare Disparities Report as part of the effort to monitor national progress in this domain.

Keystone Symposia is striving to move the health disparities conversation forward by incorporating discussion into our conferences on cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, immunology, cancer and other diseases that impact populations worldwide.

The focus of this roundtable is on the U.S. and the persistent health disparities that exist among UR communities. In this Keystone Symposia roundtable conversation on “Health Disparities: The Intersection of Science and Race” we will discuss how efforts undertaken by Keystone Symposia’s health disparities working groups on cancer and genetics/genomics may one day contribute to national research efforts on these issues.

The roundtable will examine the intersection of genes, race and disease. Watch this lively panel discussion moderated by Dr. Irelene Ricks and then ask the panelists your questions.

Among other topics, the discussion will focus on:

The biology of health disparities
The role of epigenetics in health disparities research
The public health issues surrounding disparate healthcare access and treatment
Priorities, obstacles and controversies facing the field, including lack of UR health care professionals
Catalytic research and novel ideas that push the field in the scientific community’s consciousness

Event Hashtag: #VKSdisparities

The views expressed in this ePanel are those of the participants and not necessarily of the participants’ organizations or of Keystone Symposia.

Amanda Marie James PhD

Assistant Director of the IMSD program; Research Associate and Instructor, Emory University, School of Medicine

Appearances