Going to try to live tweet some take-homes from this panel on #neuroracism for anyone who is missing it. #BlackInNeuroWeek @blackinneuro
Nice to see that the panelists are a mixture of later and earlier career neuroscientists!
@dhsmoove_dotcom talking about changing the nomenclature around the Tuskegee syphilis study -> United States Public Health Service syphilis study in Tuskegee
Very few anesthesiologists are women (3% of providers, I think was the number quoted) - says @PainGuruDC
First question to the panel on pain management. Black women are 5x more likely to die in childbirth in the UK (also huge disparity in the US)
@PainGuruDC commenting on this
@PainGuruDC commenting on this
Boils down to the systemic racism in medicine. 1/3 of Black women have accounts of racism at the doctor's.
20% of Black women are afraid to go to the doctor.
20% of Black women are afraid to go to the doctor.
@PainGuruDC it's so written into society. It's probably harder to find things that aren't biased.
When Black people first came to these shores, that's when the Black pain experience started.
When Black people first came to these shores, that's when the Black pain experience started.
@Ti_Enjoli asking about how to comfort/treat Black women who are in pain:
@PainGuruDC : the change from thinking about race not implying genetics is important in medical practice. Telehealth is also helping, just getting Black people in pain connected with help.
@PainGuruDC : the change from thinking about race not implying genetics is important in medical practice. Telehealth is also helping, just getting Black people in pain connected with help.
@dhsmoove_dotcom providing some ethical context on the syphilis study conducted in Tuskegee. Maybe the first few months of the study were ethically justifiable when treatments weren't available, but the DECADES afterward are atrocities
But there is a tension for Black people between participating in research studies that could help people, when there is a history of racism in the practice of research conduct.
How do we fight against the false idea in medicine that Black people feel less pain? @paingurudc says intervention trainings can help, but more needs to be done because Black people are still not getting properly treated for pain management.
@dhsmoove_dotcom points out that for Black people, it's hard to advocate for themselves, ie. by getting a second opinion from another doctor. "We're struggling to get the first opinion!"
Question your doctors.
Question your doctors.
Religious leaders can be important in some communities for helping people to advocate for themselves. Also younger, more educated family members. But also, #medicine and doctors have to change!!
New topic on violence:
@oliver_rollins sociologist talking about violence as a health problem.
@oliver_rollins sociologist talking about violence as a health problem.
@oliver_rollins forthcoming book is about how violence in societies and the impact of race.
The book ended up being about how to produce research about this topic in the first place.
The book ended up being about how to produce research about this topic in the first place.
The neurobiology of violence doesn't really do a good job of thinking about inequalities.
There is a history of racism in sociology, which informs the science today.
A new trend is to try to erase race from the conversation.
There is a history of racism in sociology, which informs the science today.
A new trend is to try to erase race from the conversation.
How can we deal with the effects of race on how society is structured and then how this leads to violence.
There is a failure to see how race structures lives.
There is a failure to see how race structures lives.
Working on sociology of violence is problematic - if we can predict that someone is likely to commit violence, what should we do with that information?
Now talking about neuroscience of implicit bias:
2 parts to this: racial recognition and how we manage/use biases based on this.
Can we boil racism down to managing bias?
2 parts to this: racial recognition and how we manage/use biases based on this.
Can we boil racism down to managing bias?
One measure of violence: arrest records. But these are already highly classed/raced/gendered. These are built into the data that sociologists are even working.
Thinking about implicit bias, this can't be explained by brain wiring or something. They're doing things that are normal in our society
New topic: #AI and racism. @JordanBHarrod talking about this.
I think that the bigger issue that I tend to see is not necessarily asking the right questions and not considering the assumptions behind questions for systems #algorithms being developed
I think that the bigger issue that I tend to see is not necessarily asking the right questions and not considering the assumptions behind questions for systems #algorithms being developed
Talking about a #Nature paper with a model that found racial disparities but the model didn't take into account disparities in how much Black people use healthcare (often using it less because of the kinds of issues described earlier by @PainGuruDC
Datasets are biased and this has to be factored in when building models. Having diverse teams helps with this.
Another issue is community buy-in. Are the people who a model/system is going to be used on being asked what they think of the technology? I.e. with facial recognition, having low false positives is important in the community but maybe less important to police.
@jordanbharrod says, There is a fine line between community engagement and community abuse.
In #AI we need to look at how #algorithms *shift power*
In #AI we need to look at how #algorithms *shift power*
We are infusing #AI into our current applications.
You want these #algorithms to be all-inclusive. We don't want them to have biases and prejudices. We have humans for that.
You want these #algorithms to be all-inclusive. We don't want them to have biases and prejudices. We have humans for that.
You want to set a precedent. Who is actually working on the #AI. So these funding opportunities have an opportunity to diversify the people capable of creating these models and algorithms.
Next topic: what are some technologies in #medicine that are racist?
@paingurudc talks about evaluating patient to be treated with #opioids chronically. Some doctors look at criminal records - an obviously racist practice since run-ins with police depend on the environment
@paingurudc talks about evaluating patient to be treated with #opioids chronically. Some doctors look at criminal records - an obviously racist practice since run-ins with police depend on the environment
Other examples: evaluation for cancer treatment and evaluation for organ transplants.
@JordanBHarrod talking about @NSFGRFP shift in focus. Might not affect black students, specifically because it tends not to support Black students in the first place - the bias is toward funding students at R1 institutions. It could be a way to support minority students, but no.
@dhsmoove_dotcom talking about mental health.
We have a responsibility to build community and speak on behalf of Black people, advocate for them.
We have a responsibility to build community and speak on behalf of Black people, advocate for them.
Suicide among young Black men, including in PhD programs, is on the rise. We have to take this seriously. The stress hits hard.
Mental illness is an illness like any other kind. Take your family to the doctor.
Mental illness is an illness like any other kind. Take your family to the doctor.
Moderators @Ti_Enjoli and De-Shaine Murray doing a really great job hitting all the issues! #blackinneuroweek #neuroracism panel
@oliver_rollins part of doing science is thinking about how to solve society's problems. So if scientists aren't thinking about their biases about what those problems are, that research will likely have implicit bias.
@oliver_rollins what does an anti-racist science look like? A lot of results of science are just reproducing our biases. How do we fix this?
Last topic for #neuroracism panel:
What do you think drives people to try to find neurobiological explanations for racism:
What do you think drives people to try to find neurobiological explanations for racism:
@oliver_rollins there's a profound misunderstanding about how systemic inequality works.
People are looking for neurobiological explanations, individual explanations for differences that are built into our system.
#neuroscience might not be able to answer these questions!
People are looking for neurobiological explanations, individual explanations for differences that are built into our system.
#neuroscience might not be able to answer these questions!
@paingurudc on the same question:
we have a hard time between distinguishing between true history and cultural memory.
we have a hard time between distinguishing between true history and cultural memory.
@paingurudc talking about how
with #BLMprotests reckoning, there is going to be guilt. Even if you get rid of every racist, then there will still be a racist system. We need to get past the guilt and rebuild.
with #BLMprotests reckoning, there is going to be guilt. Even if you get rid of every racist, then there will still be a racist system. We need to get past the guilt and rebuild.
@dhsmoove_dotcom agrees. White supremacy is way worse than anyone thinks. The US has never incorporated Black people (since slavery) in the community.
@dhsmoove_dotcom too many of us are stuck at the bottom. Someone has to have the courage to go down and get them.
Awesome panel from @PainGuruDC @oliver_rollins @tblizzak @dhsmoove_dotcom @JordanBHarrod and moderators @Ti_Enjoli and @shaineNeuro
#BlackInNeuroWeek #neuroracism panel! Check out @BlackInNeuro for more discussion
#BlackInNeuroWeek #neuroracism panel! Check out @BlackInNeuro for more discussion
You can register to view the panel after the fact at @blackinneuro blackinneuro.com
So grateful for the organizers, panelists and funding sources making this week happen.
So grateful for the organizers, panelists and funding sources making this week happen.
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