1/🧵 It’s #BlackHistoryMonth.

A time for us to re-learn and re-discover our history.

A history beyond the chapter on Civil Rightsin our high school textbooks.

A history beyond the Emancipation Proclamation and Brown v. Board of Education.

So what are you reading this month? Image
2/ The ship grew larger & more terrifying w. each stroke of the paddle. The smells grew stronger, the sounds louder, crying & wailing from one quarter, low singing from another; the anarchic noise of children given an underbeat by hands drumming on wood.”

nytimes.com/2022/01/28/opi…
3/ One of the best essays I’ve read.

“Locked out of the greatest opportunity for wealth accumulation in history, African Americans who were able to afford homes found themselves consigned to communities where their investments were affected by the FHA.”

theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
4/ On Justice. By @nhannahjones.

“If we are truly at the precipice of a transformative moment, the most tragic of outcomes would be that the demand be too timid. If we are indeed serious about creating a more just society…We must get to the root of it.”

nytimes.com/interactive/20…
5/ The prologue to the 20th Anniversary edition of @BDTSpelman’s classic could easily stand on its own.

“We can’t overlook the way housing patterns have been shaped historically by race based policies such as restrictive covenants, redlining & discriminatory mortgage lending…” ImageImage
6/ In her book, “The Sum of Us,” @hmcghee opens with a simple question that has now been the driving my research: “Why can’t we have nice things?”

From segregated pools in Pittsburgh to the collapse of unions, we are reminded that equity does not have to be a zero sum game. ImageImage
@hmcghee 7/ "'What’s the worst that could happen?' her husband asks, and she can’t speak it — the worst. Instead, she tries to turn off the little voice in her head, the one that wants to know: How exactly do you cure bad blood?"

"1932" by Yaa Gyasi.

nytimes.com/interactive/20…
8/ A must read for all in medicine: Medicaid Apartheid by @haw95.

“An almost innate resistance to medical research is ascribed all African-Americans… often the fear of becoming an unwitting subject is laid to one single instance of abuse rather than a centuries long history...” ImageImage
9/ Published in 1992, this classic from Harvard law professor, Derrick Bell, blends allegory & historical narrative to examine racism’s role in American society.

“Black people are the magical faces at the bottom of society’s well... Only by working together is escape possible.“ ImageImage
10/ From Michelle Alexander, 10 years after "The New Jim Crow."

"I wrote it to challenge our nation to reckon with the recurring cycles of racial reform, retrenchment and rebirth of caste-like systems that have defined our racial history since slavery."

nytimes.com/2020/01/17/opi…
11/ Mixing it up from the reading to suggest one of the best docs you can watch. “13TH” by @ava is truly masterful.

“13TH picks up Ms. Michelle Alexander’s baton and sprints through the history of American race and incarceration with seamless economy.”

nytimes.com/2016/09/30/mov… Image
12/ The NYT on The Warmth of Other Suns.

“A popular ­African-American weekly, The Chicago Defender would publish dozens of stories of families leaving the South. If all of their dream does not come true, enough will come to pass to justify their actions.”
nytimes.com/2010/09/05/boo… ImageImage

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More from @UREssien

Feb 10
1/ 🧵 Out today in @Health_Affairs.

On #Pharmacoequity and equitable access to novel #COVID19 treatment.

Led by future Dr. @rohankhaz, we dive into the challenges & opportunities in ensuring that patients and communities most affected by the pandemic can get the care they need. ImageImage
2/ At risk of redundancy, we previously discussed the challenges in achieving #Pharmacoequity, including in the pandemic, noting, “…For example, treatment of patients with #COVID19 has revealed substantial inequities in access to life-saving treatments.”

jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/… ImageImage
3/ That observation was supported by national CDC data from earlier this year, as well as a recent national analysis of Medicare enrollees that found that Black patients had a 23% ⬇️ odds of receiving monoclonal antibodies when diagnosed with #COVID19.

jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/… ImageImage
Read 6 tweets
Dec 1, 2021
One of the points we made in our article last month (👇🏾) is that #Pharmacoequity extends beyond prescription drug access to the entire therapeutic cascade. A couple of interesting papers led by @ashwin_nathan & @ACFanaroff on TAVRs and #HealthEquity.

jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/…

1/
@ashwin_nathan @ACFanaroff @SameedKhatana @petegroen @jaygirimd @hmartinjulien @bnallamo In @CircOutcomes, the team examined socioeconomic & geographic factors of hospitals that developed TAVR (newer, less invasive treatment for aortic stenosis) programs and found that hospitals serving wealthier patients were ⬆️ likely to start programs.

2/

ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CI…
3/3 A month later, the team showed in @JAMACardio that zip codes with ⬆️ rates of Black & Hispanic patients and those with more socioeconomic disadvantages had ⬇️ rates of TAVR, adjusting for age and clinical conditions.

So much to be done in this space.

jamanetwork.com/journals/jamac…
Read 4 tweets
Oct 22, 2021
1/ NEW: Excited to share our Viewpoint in @JAMA_current: "A Policy Prescription for Reducing Health Disparities -- Achieving Pharmacoequity."

A 🧵 on what #Pharmacoequity is, why it should be a public health & policy priority, and how we can achieve it.

jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/…
2/ Ensuring that all individuals, regardless of race & ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or availability of resources, have access to the highest quality medications required to manage their health needs is paramount. This is what we call #Pharmacoequity.

jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/…
3/ The #COVID19 pandemic has brought health equity to the forefront, especially in how we ensure access to novel therapies, from antivirals like #remdesivir and #molnupiravir to the Covid vaccine...

But inequities in access to novel drugs are much more than a Covid problem. 👇🏾
Read 10 tweets
Jun 3, 2021
1/
In 2019, @jared_w_magnani & I were invited to give @PittGIM Grand Rounds on the social determinants of #AFib.

Today, thanks to our incredible co-authors, we published some of those thoughts in Nature! 👇🏾

A 🧵 on gaps & opportunities for future work.

nature.com/articles/s4156….
2/
The pandemic has taught us so much about our health system, but it has especially shone a bright light on the social determinants as key drivers of #HealthEquity. Our review focused on:
🔸 race/ethnicity
🔸 finances
🔸 rurality/neighborhood
🔸 health literacy
🔸 social network
3/
The social construct of race has been one of the most well-studied determinants of #AFib incidence, treatment (including our work in anticoagulation disparities), and outcomes. Here we discuss why such inequities exist across the AFib care continuum.

nature.com/articles/s4156….
Read 11 tweets
Jun 2, 2021
1/
Today I received the Larry E. Davis Excellence in Race Research from @PittCRSP.

I met Dr. Davis when I first got to Pitt and was amazed by his fierce & enduring commitment to racial justice. He is greatly missed in our community and I am incredibly honored for this award. 🙏🏾
2/
I am grateful for my community here @PittTweet, especially the Black Pittsburgh #COVID19 Equity Coalition that has truly been *doing the work* this past year to help keep our communities of color healthy, safe, informed (and now vaccinated) throughout the pandemic.
3/
I am grateful to so many who have inspired, collaborated with, and taught me so much over the past year, pushing my thinking and scholarship on #HealthEquity, justice, and examining racism as a driver of health in the US, during & beyond the pandemic.

jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-…
Read 4 tweets
Jun 1, 2021
1/
“In 1918, Frissell Memorial Hospital was built at 314 E. Brady St. for Black medical providers to serve Black residents.

The brick building near the bustling Black Wall Street was reduced to rubble and ash during the race massacre three years later.”
tulsaworld.com/persistent-hea…
2/
“Since then, the healthcare landscape in north Tulsa has mirrored the economic trends, with hospitals and private practices expanding to the south. The perceived inequalities became factual with a report showing ~14-year gap between the north 74126 zipcode and the south 74137” Image
3/
“In 1920, before the massacre, Greenwood was home to 9,000 Black residents, their medical needs were served by at least 17 doctors, including renowned surgeon, Dr. A.C. Jackson. The neighborhood had its own hospital and 4 well-equipped drugstores...”
wsj.com/articles/in-no…
Read 5 tweets

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