*In this photo:* In 2023, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened an expert committee to assess the current use of racial and ethnic categories in biomedical research, review existing guidance for researchers, and provide new guidance for future use. The resulting 2024 report, Rethinking Race and Ethnicity in Biomedical Research, outlines nine actionable recommendations and associated resources for advancing the responsible use of race and ethnicity.

Research & Innovation

National Academies Releases New Report on Using Race and Ethnicity in Biomedical Research

Thursday, October 31, 2024

In 2023, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened an expert committee to assess the current use of racial and ethnic categories in biomedical research, review existing guidance for researchers, and provide new guidance for future use. The resulting 2024 report, Rethinking Race and Ethnicity in Biomedical Research, outlines nine actionable recommendations and associated resources for advancing the responsible use of race and ethnicity.

The recommendations address how to:

Decide whether to use race and ethnicity in different research contexts
Characterize and disclose limitations of datasets that include racial and ethnic information
Identify factors to investigate instead of or alongside race and ethnicity
Include overlooked populations in analysis
Support sustained community engagement

Access the report and supporting materials, including an interactive resource, action guides for research funders and journals, educational one pagers, and FAQs on the project webpage.

At Delaware State University, the Interdisciplinary Health Equity Research (IHER) Center specifically seeks to examine health disparities across race and ethnicity in Delaware and beyond. Subsequently, this report directly engages with much of the work which Center researchers from across the DSU community are actively pursuing. Click here to learn more about the IHER Center.