EDI News

For most medical students, getting the opportunity to don a white coat is a major milestone, one that fills them with excitement to be that much closer to becoming a doctor.

Kirsten Simmons had that same excitement initially too. But as time passed, Simmons, now in her fourth year of medical school at Duke, says her white coat gradually gained new meaning. It now feels heavy and represents a burden she wishes she didn’t have to bear.

In his nearly nine years working at Duke, Lowell Tyler says there have been countless times when he’s been the only Black person or Black man in the room. It can be a bit of a challenge, and even though it’s a situation he has gotten accustomed to, he says it’s one that can—and should—change.

'Say their names.' That’s the call made by many in reference to the numerous Black people who have been killed by police or civilian vigilantes in this country. It’s a call that some say represents the long-overdue need to address systemic racism in the U.S. And it’s a call that many students, faculty, and staff say must include Duke University School of Medicine.

Nikki Mahendru’s mother didn’t go to the gynecologist for 45 years — and when she did, she regretted it. Ms. Mahendru felt “decades of anxieties and hesitancy reduced to five minutes of brisk interaction with her provider,” and left convinced that the “realm of women’s health was just not for her.” According to Nikki, a Duke University undergraduate, her mother’s “trust in the system was lost.” 

The moment has finally arrived for the United States biomedical research enterprise to directly confront structural racism in scientific funding, according to Duke neuroscientist Kafui Dzirasa, MD, PhD, K. Ranga Rama Krishnan Association Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

A combination of a gene and daily-life stress contributes to disease risk in both Black and white women, but the stressors are different between the races

A genetic variation in combination with the stress of racial discrimination appears to increase the risk of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases among Black women, according to a recent study from Duke Health researchers.

Michael Boyce, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry in the School of Medicine, will co-direct a national program to enhance faculty diversity at research universities, organized by the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) and funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Dr. Viviana Martinez-Bianchi has long been focused on health equity. When the coronavirus pandemic struck, she turned to the local community, helping launch an effort to get better information in the hands of area Hispanic residents.

Together with her pediatrician colleague Gabriela Maradiaga Panayotti, Martinez-Bianchi launched a campaign called Latin-19 in March to help educate North Carolina’s Latinx communities about COVID-19.

The Duke University School of Medicine has announced the 2020 recipients of the Michelle P. Winn Inclusive Excellence Award. Each year this award celebrates exceptional achievements in diversity and inclusion among our faculty, staff, trainees, and students. This year’s recipients improved inclusivity, equity, and belonging throughout the School through mentoring, advocacy, education, patient care, and other efforts, both within our walls and in our community.

Two Duke doctors discuss reasons, possible solutions in media briefing

COVID-19 has shone a stark light on America’s economic and racial health disparities, proving there is no one-size-fits-all strategy to test and treat people for the disease, two Duke experts emphasized Thursday.

The pandemic has illuminated the struggles minority populations have in obtaining good information, getting tested and finding help when infected. But there are ways to improve the situation, the two health experts said.