Episode 18 If you're interested in health equity, the Igniting Hope Conference is for you. Learn about the work of Dr. Jamal Williams and how to take effective action to improve health outcomes and increase inclusion in medical research. 

 In this episode you will learn: 

1. How exclusion from medical research can impact treatment and resources for chronic diseases among black Americans 

2. The importance of inclusivity in medical research in order to create accurate conclusions 

3. How Igniting Hope Conference served as a catalyst for one young black scholar to get involved in medical research.

"I think we really have to get activated in science and medicine. And we can't stand on the sidelines any longer and point to historical situations where we were abused, or we were taken advantage of."

Dr. Jamal Williams is a postdoctoral fellow in neurogenetics at UCLA. He earned his PhD in neuroscience from the University at Buffalo, where he became interested in science as a way to address the issues of health disparities he observed growing up in Buffalo's Eastside. Dr. Williams has spoken about the importance of inclusion in science and medicine, both in terms of research subjects and researchers themselves, in order to address the disparities in health outcomes between black and white Americans.

This is Dr. Jamal Williams's story...

I'm Dr. Jamal Williams, and I'm a scholar who was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. I attended public school here and then went on to earn my PhD in public health from the University of Buffalo. Today, I work at UCLA in Los Angeles, but I'll never forget the impact that the Igniting Hope Conference had on my journey. The conference was created to bring awareness to health disparities within the African American community, and it did just that. I was blown away by the passion and commitment of the speakers to tackling these issues head on. After attending the conference, I reflected on how I could use my own career to make a difference. I realized that I could use my skills in science to help dispel myths about mental health disorders and to work towards.

Key Takeaways:

People of African descent have the most genetically diverse genome of anybody else in the world. They are still vastly underrepresented in genetic screening and medical research. 

In 2022, non-European representation in genome wide association studies only makes up about 2.5%. Europeans make up only about 16% of the world's population. There are 16 billion people in Africa, 13 billion in India, and 14 billion in China.

Dr Williams is concerned about the poor performance of African American children in math and science in Buffalo Public Schools. He believes that students need to work twice as hard to achieve the same level of achievement as their white counterparts.

Resources:

Register for the Free 2022 Igniting Hope Conference August 12th and 13th at www.BuffaloHealthEquity.org

Learn more about Dr. Jamal Williams and his podcast Reclaim the Bench podcast, highlighting unsung heroes in science and medicine at www.jamalbwilliams.com

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