Enhancing Equity in Genomics: Incorporating Measures of Structural Racism, Discrimination, and Social Determinants of Health

The everyday harms of structural racism and discrimination, perpetuated through institutions, laws, policies, and practices, constitute social determinants of health, but measures that account for their debilitating effects are largely missing in genetic studies of complex diseases. Drawing on insig...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Authors: Rajagopalan, Ramya M. (Author) ; D'Antonio, Matteo (Author) ; Fujimura, Joan H. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2024
In: The Hastings Center report
Year: 2024, Volume: 54, Pages: S31-S40
Further subjects:B polygenic risk scores (PRS)
B genome-wide association studies (GWAS)
B Health equity
B Community Health
B research ethics
B systemic racism
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:The everyday harms of structural racism and discrimination, perpetuated through institutions, laws, policies, and practices, constitute social determinants of health, but measures that account for their debilitating effects are largely missing in genetic studies of complex diseases. Drawing on insights from the social sciences and public health, we propose critical methodologies for incorporating tools that measure structural racism and discrimination within genetic analyses. We illustrate how including these measures may strengthen the accuracy and utility of findings for diverse communities, clarify elusive relationships between genetics and environment in a racialized society, and support greater equity within genomics and precision health research. This approach may also support efforts to build and sustain vital partnerships with communities and with other fields of research inquiry, centering community expertise and lived experiences and drawing on valuable knowledge from practitioners in the social sciences and public health to innovate biomedical and genomic study designs aimed at community health priorities.
ISSN:1552-146X
Contains:Enthalten in: Hastings Center, The Hastings Center report
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1002/hast.4927