The Best Science is Inclusive of African Americans

According to the 2020 Census, 46.9 million people are African Americans/Black. There is a need to ensure that biomedical research reflects the prevalence of disease in African Americans relative to the population demographics. This will require reflective forethought that is visible throughout the research proposal from the conceptual framework to recruitment and retention plans that include sample size calculations that account for over sampling to ensure enough African Americans are in the sample for meaningful analysis. It is important for the scientific community to understand African Americans are not a monolithic people, and there is a need for population specific studies. Even the way we apply and define “the best science” needs to change. If African Americans are not included in the proposed science when there is clear technical merit, be it instrumentation and pharmaceutical development or intervention implementation, the question that has to be asked is, is this the best science that is being proposed? 


More at:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11524-021-00576-5





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