End Bias Now: Reconsidering Race in Research and Medical Algorithms

The use of in the design of clinical algorithms – mathematical models used to guide disease diagnosis and treatment – can lead to profound racial disparities in health care outcomes. 


The Doris Duke Foundation (DDF) has been working with core partners to address this problem with Racial Equity in Clinical Equations, a new initiative launching with a landmark convening and the largest ever investment in gathering the evidence necessary to inform change. As a partner with Doris Duke Foundation and three other funded Civic Science fellow hosts, UAEM is co-designing a project that positions our Civic Science Fellow, Luyi Adesanya, to build a strategic coalition to bring together funders, medical societies, scientists and others to advance the uptake of new clinical equations.

UAEM’s goal in this space is to increase awareness of the problem within the medical research community, to build support for the examination and revision of clinical algorithms that improperly use race, and to generate evidence that can inform new guidelines to help shape clinical equations that improve health care outcomes.

Project Goals/Activities

  • Enable wide revision of old assumptions about race in relation to the outcomes measured by algorithms across areas of medicine.

  • Generate scientific best practices for researchers to rigorously adhere to standards that are consistent with current knowledge about race, biology, and medicine.

  • Training the future generation of scientists, students, clinicians, policy advocates, and public health trainees with increased awareness and promotion of evidence for change across research fields and clinical practice focusing on spreading awareness with our UAEM students and chapters.

  • Achieve increased investment in research, education, and policy action that will enable revision of the way racial information is used in clinical algorithms and broader redesign of race-based clinical decision-making tools.

  • Dissemination and reporting of information related to the harms of race-based clinical equations on health equity to new audiences including college and medical students, journalists, and medical societies, and media coverage.

Meet Luyi, UAEM's Civic Science Fellow

Luyi Adesanya, MPH, MBA, CPH, is working to build our project and help UAEM lead in the space of racial equity and clinical equations.

Read her bio here, and get in touch!

Reconsidering Race in Clinical Algorithms: A Comprehensive Report

This pivotal report, "Reconsidering Race in Clinical Algorithms," explores the critical issues surrounding the inclusion of race in clinical algorithms and its impact on health equity. Sponsored by the Doris Duke Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, and the National Academy of Medicine, this report reflects insights from a landmark meeting held in June 2023. It addresses the historical context, current challenges, and future directions for ensuring that clinical algorithms promote health equity.

Download the full report to explore detailed recommendations and start implementing changes today for a more equitable healthcare system.