The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
4 — Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Study shows Black researchers about 55% less
likely to receive NIH funding than white peers
RESEARCH
University
of
Michigan
biomedical
engineering
professor
Omolola
Eniola-
Adefeso,
along
with
19
other women in biomedical
engineering across the country,
published a paper last month
calling for an end to racial
disparity in funding by the
National Institute of Health.
According to the paper, the
probability of Black principal
investigators
receiving
a
research
award
was
about
55%
of
the
probability
of
white principal investigators
receiving one in 2000-2006.
In
2014-2016,
this
number
remained the same.
“We,
as
scientists
and
engineers,
wrote
editorials
and promised to do better,” the
paper reads. “Yet, over a decade
later, this gap persists.”
According to Eniola-Adefeso,
equitable research grants from
the NIH are necessary for
ensuring diversity in biomedical
engineering
research
and
enabling
researchers
to
acquire
promotions
and
tenured positions. She told The
Michigan Daily funding diverse
research
teams
motivates
students from all backgrounds
to pursue research.
“We
recognize
that
part
of the problem is that (NIH
funded
researchers),
as
a
body, are not diverse,” Eniola-
Adefeso said. “We are primarily
responsible for training the U.S.
workforce, and if we are not
training a diverse workforce,
we are leaving people out from
accessing high-paying jobs.”
The
paper
highlighted
several ways funding agencies
could work towards eliminating
disparities in grants awarded.
These
include
officially
acknowledging the prevalence
of racism in academia and
committing to work towards its
expulsion, instituting policies
that
will
enable
equitable
funding for Black researchers
and
prioritizing
diverse
research teams for funding.
Numerous studies cited in
the paper show diverse research
teams
generate
the
most
creative and impactful ideas
and solutions. Eniola-Adefeso
said the NIH should create a
diversity score that measures
the
diversity
of
research
teams and enables teams with
higher scores to be prioritized
for
funding,
encouraging
diversification and innovation.
“Diversity of people, diversity
of
background,
diversity
of
life experiences — if those are
important in getting innovative
solutions, then why is it that the
NIH grant scoring process does
not give points to the diversity
of the research team?” Eniola-
Adefeso said.
Korie
Grayson,
an
engineering postdoctoral fellow
in Eniola-Adefeso’s lab, said it
is essential to identify the core
issues in the research funding
process to ensure it can be
successfully eliminated, as the
paper does.
Grayson said the disparity
in
research
funding
is
unsurprising
since
women
of
color
pursuing
research
have to combat unwelcome
environments and numerous
gender and racial biases and
stereotypes while working in
the field.
“Being
half
as
likely
to
be
funded
as
your
white
counterpart who is basically
on the same level as you is
discouraging,” Grayson said.
“It is discouraging but it is
not surprising, which is the
sad part. In order to have
more young scientists of color,
specifically Black women, there
has to be a change.”
The Biomedical Engineering
Society, a student organization
promoting
networking
and research panels in the
biomedical engineering field at
the University, agreed with the
paper’s findings. In an email to
The Daily, Engineering senior
Likitha Nimmagadda, president
of the Biomedical Engineering
Society,
emphasized
the
organization’s
support
for
the need to ensure equitable
research grants awarded by the
NIH.
“The BMES chapter at U of
M fully supports and agrees
with the sentiments expressed
by the authors of the ‘Fund
Black scientists’ commentary
published in Cell,” Nimmagadda
wrote. “Black scientists must be
funded at the same rate as white
scientists and improving this
racial funding disparity must be
prioritized. In order to improve
equity
in
funding
received
by researchers, we must ‘see
color’.”
Eniola-Adefeso also said the
conception of the paper was
spurred by the death of George
Floyd, a Black man who was
killed on May 25 by police.
She said the murder prompted
biomedical engineering faculty
members to discuss and work
to combat racial inequities
existing in the research field.
“We can no longer allow this
to go under the radar,” Eniola-
Adefeso said. “We have a voice
as faculty and we felt like this
was a time to reengage the NIH
in this conversation.”
Daily Staff Reporter Navya
Gupta
can
be
reached
at
itznavya@umich.edu.
Report by U-M professor calls for end to racial disparities in government research spending
NAVYA GUPTA
Daily Staff Reporter
In his book “When Germs
Travel,” Markel makes the case
for a globally funded public
health program.
Markel
said
the
World
Health Organization has a very
small staff and must be invited
into a country because it has no
“police powers.”
“The main thesis of (the
book)
is
that
germs
don’t
respect borders,” Markel said.
“There’s no sovereignty to an
epidemic — they travel. An
outbreak anywhere can easily
go everywhere, as we found
out.”
Markel
is
especially
interested in the weaponization
of epidemics against immigrant
and migrant groups. Markel,
who worked at an AIDS clinic
as a graduate student at Johns
Hopkins University and at an
immigrant hostel in Detroit,
said this interest stemmed
from his Eastern European
Jewish heritage.
Markel learned from his
grandparents — who raised
him in a bilingual household
speaking Yiddish — that the
typhus
fever
and
cholera
epidemics had been blamed
on Eastern European Jewish
immigrants in New York City
at the turn of the century.
“I wanted to delve into the
Yiddish press and sources to
see how they experienced it, in
comparison to how the Anglo-
American or white American
press encountered it,” Markel
said. “Of course, they knew
what was going on. They knew
enough science and they knew
they were being corralled.”
Markel said the “uses and
misuses
of
public
health
measures as social means”
contributed
to
staggering
misconceptions about patients
affected by the AIDS epidemic.
While working at the AIDS
clinic,
Markel
said
many
patients who were gay or used
intravenous drugs asked him if
they’d be quarantined.
“First, I said, ‘Well, no,
it’s not the right disease, it’s
sexually transmitted and that
wouldn’t be the way to do
it,’” Markel said. “But, I kept
hearing this question and as a
doctor, you don’t hear the same
social question over and over
again. You hear, like, ‘Will it
hurt? How much does it cost?’
Or, ‘What are the side effects?’
But you don’t hear that.”
Markel said the realization
that the political manipulation
of quarantine was used as
an excuse to isolate already
stigmatized
or
scapegoated
populations struck him “like a
lightning bolt.”
He also said his patients were
painfully aware of this trend.
To these patients, the word
quarantine
was
not
simply
code for a public health policy,
but rather a metaphor for the
increasing stigmatization and
isolation that resulted from
their illness.
In his book “Quarantine,”
Markel
said
his
historical
research and clinical practices
are similar because they both
require him to use primary
sources to arrive at a diagnosis.
Markel said he feels an
obligation to bring attention
to marginalized communities,
referencing
his
work
with
individuals who have AIDS.
“(I have a) responsibility
to
bear
witness
and
tell
the stories (of scapegoated
groups),” Markel said. “What
I was inspired to do, based on
what I saw in my clinic with
AIDS patients, was to dig as
deeply as I could.”
Markel
said
even
while
taking on various roles — such
as medical historian, physician
or writer — he never forgets
the Hippocratic oath he took to
protect and serve his patients.
Though he said he has been
accused of holding partisan
opinions after writing about
strategies for containing the
virus, Markel said he cannot
endorse viewpoints that do not
protect his patients’ lives.
“I’m a pediatrician, and I
take care of kids,” Markel said.
“I’m pretty sure that if I told
people I wouldn’t do everything
in my power to preserve lives,
no one would want me as their
doctor.”
When
asked
about
what
kind of work he will do for the
remainder of the pandemic,
Markel emphasized his range
of expertise.
“I’m a medical historian,
and so I don’t pretend to know
anything about how to predict
the future,” Markel said. “But
what we do know from history
is what works, so I can say with
confidence that we know social
distancing and flattening the
curve works.”
Daily
News
Contributor
Sierra Élise Hansen can be
reached at hsierra@umich.edu.
MARKEL
From Page 1
The University’s Office of
Public Affairs declined to
comment on Weiser’s emails.
Weiser, incoming co-chair
of the Michigan Republican
Party, faced criticism from
some
in
the
University
community after the Jan. 6
Capitol riot. More than 150
U-M professors signed onto
a request that Weiser resign,
arguing
that
attempts
by
members of the Michigan
GOP to overturn the 2020
presidential
election
by
perpetuating lies about voter
fraud make his role as regent
and head of the state party
incompatible.
“These events are not an
aberration but the inevitable
end result of positions the
MI-GOP has openly endorsed
or tacitly tolerated, with your
consent and support,” the
request reads. “As Trump’s
Michigan
campaign
chair,
you directly contributed to
the rise of a politician who,
as President of the United
States, incited a mob to storm
the nation’s Capitol with the
express aim of preventing the
certification of a democratic
election.”
Weiser
has
repeatedly
condemned the violence at
the Capitol and said it is time
for Republicans to move on
from the 2020 election. His
incoming co-chair, Meshawn
Maddock,
organized
buses
of Michigan supporters of
former
President
Donald
Trump to Washington, D.C.,
for the Jan. 6 “stop the steal”
rally that turned into an
insurrection.
Maddock
retweeted
a
video of Trump supporters
marching to the Capitol that
afternoon with the caption:
“The most incredible crowd
and sea of people I’ve ever
walked with (heart emoji).”
Weiser
told
Bridge
Michigan
on
Jan.
7
that
Maddock did not incite the
riot. He said he did not know
if Trump bore any blame.
“I didn’t read any of that
stuff, and I didn’t watch
television,”
Weiser
told
Bridge. “I watched Michigan
destroy
Minnesota
in
basketball, and that kind of
contest is something that I
strongly support.”
Weiser has not mentioned
Trump or anyone else as
holding responsibility in his
statements.
“To move forward as a
party, we must acknowledge
our mistakes and never let
them happen again,” Weiser
tweeted on Jan. 9. “Let me
be clear, the events in our
nation’s Capital this week
were both incredibly tragic
and
wrong.
People
were
misled. And that resulted in
death and destruction. That is
unacceptable and abhorrent.”
Weiser did not respond
to a request to comment for
this story. Regents Katherine
White (D), Michael Behm
(D), Denise Ilitch (D), Mark
Bernstein (D) did not respond
to
requests
for
comment.
Regents Jordan Acker (D) and
Sarah Hubbard (R) declined to
comment. Regent Paul Brown
(D)
declined
to
comment
on specific emails, but said
Weiser is an “exceptional”
regent.
“Although
our
political
views differ greatly, I know
that he always has the best
interest
of
the
University
at heart,” Brown wrote. “I
would also hope that we
live in a world that would
excuse me, or anyone else,
who inadvertently sends a
personal email. Additionally,
I know the board has actual
important things to worry
about.”
Daily News Editor Calder
Lewis
can
be
reached
at
calderll@umich.edu.
WEISER
From Page 1
“Since
the
(stay
in
place
recommendation)
I’ve
gotten
(takeout) and that’s it,” Dirkman
said. “But I think that I will go to
restaurants more (once the order
ends).”
In contrast, LSA freshman
Annie Cress has ruled out going
to a restaurant for indoor dining
regardless of the stay in place
recommendation and said she has
reservations about whether or not
restaurants would actually be able
to stop the spread.
“I don’t feel 100% comfortable,
it really depends on what the
restaurants are doing with their
(safety) guidelines,” Cress said.
“But I do get takeout to support
local businesses.”
Adam Baru, owner of Isalita
and Mani Osteria, said that with
the current situation, he doesn’t
feel
comfortable
opening
his
restaurant to indoor dining. Baru,
whose restaurant is fairly reliant
on student life, said there is a
certain experience one gets when
coming to his restaurant. If all
of his guests and employees are
not entirely comfortable at his
restaurant, then he is not going to
open.
“Opening
and
closing
and
opening and closing is really hard
on a restaurant,” Baru said. “I’d
rather wait until we’re out of the
woods to be at the point where
scales tip in favor of safety instead
of being open because we want or
need to be open.”
Baru also acknowledged his
business was privileged enough
to not have to worry about
finances, as he is certain they will
survive until the vaccine is widely
available.
The
University’s
plans
for
Winter 2021 influenced some
business owners’ decision on
whether or not to resume indoor
dining. The plans, which were
announced in an email from
University
President
Schlissel
on Nov. 6, consisted of the
vast majority of classes being
conducted online and reduced
occupancy in U-M residence halls.
Jared Hoffman, owner of Salads
UP on E. Liberty St., estimated
that students made up almost 70%
of his clientele, and not having
them on campus was a factor in
his decision to transition away
from a sit-down establishment
and towards a grab-and-go style
restaurant.
“Ann Arbor, we’re really a
college town,” Hoffman said.
“The campus was built here for
student life and the students
really
drive
business
traffic.
I
totally
understand
(the
University’s decision), but when
you lose X amount of students,
the whole economy and the town
is affected.”
RESTAURANTS
From Page 1
Design by Melissa Lee
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
“I’m a medical historian, and so
I don’t pretend to know anything
about how to predict the future...
But what we do know from
history is what works, so I can
say with confidence that we know
social distancing and flattening
the curve works.”