There is a breach between the need for diversity in U.S. biomedical faculty and the current reality as revealed by numbers from the National Institutes of Health. We aim to understand what works and what does not work in diversity and inclusion efforts in academic health sciences and other institutions involved in training health scientists. A team from the Disparities Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital led by Dr. Maggie Alegria, Co-PI Dr. Debra Perez, and Dr. Idia Thurston at Texas A&M University have been funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to conduct a learning assessment. We hope to explore the institutional, policy and systemic changes needed to make organizations and institutions more welcoming, diverse, inclusive, and equitable, and to inform future funding and ongoing programs to create and sustain change.

The institute of medicine defines public health as ‘what society must do to keep people healthy.’ We agree but have found that the field often utilizes tools that rarely put people first, tools that are not often accessible, tools that may not resonate, and tools that are often denied, missed, or ignored. Dr. Idia Thurston is collaborating with Dr. Juliet Iwelunmor at Saint Louis University, and many others to establish a community of leaders working together to generate healing and transformation by centering people first in health. We created LIGHT as a go-to literary chronicle that seeks to identify and challenge practices that maintain health disparities and to create policies and practices that create equity for all people.

You can visit this link to learn more about LIGHT!

Racial discrimination is a known social determinant of health and a primary contributor to racial and ethnic health inequities. Ethnic identity, or the connection individuals have with their identified ethnic group, is a known protective factor associated with improved health outcomes. The CHANGE Lab was awarded a grant from APA Div 54 to examine the effects of two brief technology-supported interventions, aimed at promoting ethnic identity among BIPOC adolescents (ages 12-17) and young adults (ages 18-25) with self-reported health problems. The intervention and assessment tools are currently under development; active recruitment is ongoing.

Poor metabolic control puts teens with obesity at risk for a number of serious health complications. However, not all youth with obesity develop metabolic complications. Dr. Idia Thurston and Dr. Kathryn Howell were awarded an NIH grant (grant number: NIDDK R21DK113344) for this study examining differences in stress, stigma (weight- and race-based), and resilience among youth with and without obesity-related metabolic complications, in order to develop effective strategies for promoting metabolic health. Study is still recruiting individuals from Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis TN with plans to start a version of the project in Texas soon.

Dr. Idia Thurston and Dr. Kathryn Howell were awarded an NIH grant (grant number: NICHD R15HD089410) for this study, which examines the relationship between youth resilience and maternal hardships (including: HIV/AIDS, substance use, relationship violence, and risky sexual behaviors). The PaTH Kids Study explores whether maternal mental and physical health affect the relationship between maternal hardships and children’s ability to handle adversity. Recruitment is completed for this study but data are still available.