health equity
Words Matter, Actions Have Impact: Updating the NIH Mission Statement
Posted on by Lawrence Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D.
I’ve previously written and spoken about how diverse perspectives are essential to innovation and scientific advancement.1 Scientists and experts with different backgrounds and lived experiences can offer diverse and creative solutions to solve complex problems. We’re taking steps to create a culture within the biomedical and behavioral research enterprise of inclusion, equity, and respect for every member of society. We are also working to strengthen our efforts to include populations in research that have not been historically included or equitably treated.
As part of our effort to ensure that all people are included in NIH research, we’re updating our mission statement to reflect better the spirit of the agency’s work to optimize health for all people. The proposed, new statement is as follows:
“To seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and to apply that knowledge to optimize health and prevent or reduce illness for all people.”
Recently, we asked a team of subject matter experts to form a subgroup of the Advisory Committee to the Director’s Working Group on Diversity to advise NIH on how we can support the inclusion of people with disabilities in the scientific workforce and in the research enterprise. One of the subgroup’s recommendations was to update the current NIH mission statement to remove “reducing disability.” The subgroup explained that this language could be interpreted as perpetuating ableist beliefs that people with disabilities are flawed and need to be “fixed.”
Disability is often viewed solely as a medical problem requiring a cure or correction. However, this view can be stigmatizing as it focuses only on a perceived flaw in the individual. It does not account for how people identify and view themselves. It also does not account for the ways that society can be unaccommodating for people with disabilities.2,3 It’s important that we recognize the varied, nuanced and complex lived experiences among people with disabilities, many of whom may also face additional barriers as members of racial, ethnic, sexual and gender minority groups, people with lower incomes, and people who live in rural communities that are medically underserved.
Some of you may recall that we updated our mission statement in 2013 to remove phrasing that implied disability was a burden, since many people do not find their disabilities to be burdensome. As we re-examine our mission statement again in 2023, I’m reminded that strengthening diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) is an ongoing process requiring our sustained engagement.
The input we’ve received has made it clear that words matter—language can perpetuate prejudices and implicit attitudes, which in turn can affect people’s behavior. We also acknowledge that it is time for the agency to review and consider how the words of our mission statement may affect the direction of our science.
In response, we are seeking the public’s input on the proposed, revised statement to ensure that it reflects the NIH mission as accurately as possible. The NIH mission should be inclusive of those who conduct research, those who participate in research, and those we serve—the American public. Anyone interested in providing feedback can send it to this submission website through Nov. 24, 2023.
We are grateful for the subgroup’s work and appreciate their time examining this issue in depth. I also want to recognize the helpful feedback that we’ve received from the disability community within NIH through the years, including recent listening sessions that helped guide the development of NIH’s DEIA Strategic Plan.
Going beyond the scientific workforce, both the Strategic Plan and the subgroup’s report recognize the importance of research on health disparities. People with disabilities often experience health conditions leading to poorer health and face discrimination, inequality and structural barriers that inhibit access to health care, resulting in poorer health outcomes. NIH recently designated people with disabilities as a population with health disparities to encourage research specific to the health issues and unmet health needs of the disability community. NIH also issued a funding opportunity calling for research applications that address the intersecting impact of disability, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on healthcare access and health outcomes.
The subgroup provided additional recommendations that we’re in the process of reviewing. We know one of our key challenges is data gathering that would give us a better snapshot of the workforce and the research we support. According to the CDC, 1 in 4 adults in the United States have a disability. However, in 2022 only 1.3% of principal investigators on NIH research grant applications and awards self-reported a disability. In 2022, 8.6% of the NIH workforce reported having a disability; however, I recognize that this is likely not reflective of the true percentage. We know that some people do not want to self-disclose for numerous reasons, including the fear of discrimination.
We hope that, in part, changing the mission statement would be a step in the right direction of changing the culture at NIH and the larger biomedical and behavioral research enterprise. I know that our efforts have sometimes fallen short, but we will continually work to foster a culture of inclusive excellence where people with disabilities and all people feel like they truly belong and are embraced as an asset to the NIH mission.
References:
[1] MA Bernard et al. The US National Institutes of Health approach to inclusive excellence. Nature Medicine DOI:10.1038/s41591-021-01532-1 (2021)
[2] DS Dunn & EE Andrews. Person-first and identity-first language: Developing psychologists’ cultural competence using disability language The American Psychologist DOI: 10.1037/a0038636 (2015)
[3] International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (2002) Towards a Common Language for Functioning, Disability and Health. World Health Organization https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/classification/icf/icfbeginnersguide.pdf
Links:
ACD Working Group on Diversity, Subgroup on Individuals with Disabilities, NIH
Request for Information: Inviting Comments and Suggestions on Updating the NIH Mission Statement, NIH
NIH designates people with disabilities as a population with health disparities, Sept. 26, 2023, NIH News Releases
NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA), NIH
Disability and Health Overview, CDC
Data on Researchers’ Self-Reported Disability Status, NIH Office Of Extramural Research
Total NIH Workforce Demographics for Fiscal Year 2022 Fourth Quarter, NIH Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
NIH HEAL Initiative Meets People Where They Are
Posted on by Rebecca Baker, Ph.D., NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term® (HEAL) Initiative
The opioid crisis continues to devastate communities across America. Dangerous synthetic opioids, like fentanyl, have flooded the illicit drug supply with terrible consequences. Tragically, based on our most-recent data, about 108,000 people in the U.S. die per year from overdoses of opioids or stimulants [1]. Although this complex public health challenge started from our inability to treat pain effectively, chronic pain remains a life-altering problem for 50 million Americans.
To match the size and complexity of the crisis, in 2018 NIH developed the NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term® (HEAL) Initiative, an aggressive effort involving nearly all of its 27 institutes and centers. Through more than 1,000 research projects, including basic science, clinical testing of new and repurposed drugs, research with communities, and health equity research, HEAL is dedicated to building a new future built on hope.
In this future:
- A predictive tool used during a health visit personalizes treatment for back pain. The tool estimates the probability that a person will benefit from physical therapy, psychotherapy, or surgery.
- Visits to community health clinics and emergency departments serve as routine opportunities to prevent and treat opioid addiction.
- Qualified school staff and pediatricians screen all children for behavioral and other mental health conditions that increase risk for harmful developmental outcomes, including opioid misuse.
- Infants born exposed to opioids during a mother’s pregnancy receive high-quality care—setting them up for a healthy future.
Five years after getting started (and interrupted by a global pandemic), HEAL research is making progress toward achieving this vision. I’ll highlight three ways in which scientific solutions are meeting people where they are today.
A Window of Opportunity for Treatment in the Justice System
Sadly, jails and prisons are “ground zero” for the nation’s opioid crisis. Eighty-five percent of people who are incarcerated have a substance use disorder or a history of substance use. Our vision at HEAL is that every person in jail, prison, or a court-supervised program receives medical care, which includes effective opioid use disorder treatment.
Some research results already are in supporting this approach: A recent HEAL study learned that individuals who had received addiction treatment while in one Massachusetts jail were about 30 percent less likely to be arrested, arraigned, or incarcerated again compared with those incarcerated during the same time period in a neighboring jail that did not offer treatment [2]. Research from the HEAL-supported Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network also is exploring public perceptions about opioid addiction. One such survey showed that most U.S. adults see opioid use disorder as a treatable medical condition rather than as a criminal matter [3]. That’s hopeful news for the future.
A Personalized Treatment Plan for Chronic Back Pain
Half of American adults live with chronic back pain, a major contributor to opioid use. The HEAL-supported Back Pain Consortium (BACPAC) is creating a whole-system model for comprehensive testing of everything that contributes to chronic low back pain, from anxiety to tissue damage. It also includes comprehensive testing of promising pain-management approaches, including psychotherapy, antidepressants, or surgery.
Refining this whole-system model, which is nearing completion, includes finding computer-friendly ways to describe the relationship between the different elements of pain and treatment. That might include developing mathematical equations that describe the physical movements and connections of the vertebrae, discs, and tendons.
Or it might include an artificial intelligence technique called machine learning, in which a computer looks for patterns in existing data, such as electronic health records or medical images. In keeping with HEAL’s all-hands-on-deck approach, BACPAC also conducts clinical trials to test new (or repurposed) treatments and develop new technologies focused on back pain, like a “wearable muscle” to help support the back.
Harnessing Innovation from the Private Sector
The HEAL research portfolio spans basic science to health services research. That allows us to put many shots on goal that will need to be commercialized to help people. Through its research support of small businesses, HEAL funding offers a make-or-break opportunity to advance a great idea to the marketplace, providing a bridge to venture capital or other larger funding sources needed for commercialization.
This bridge also allows HEAL to invest directly in the heart of innovation. Currently, HEAL funds nearly 100 such companies across 20 states. While this is a relatively small portion of all HEAL research, it is science that will make a difference in our communities, and these researchers are passionate about what they do to build a better future.
A couple of current examples of this research passion include: delivery of controlled amounts of non-opioid pain medications after surgery using a naturally absorbable film or a bone glue; immersive virtual reality to help people with opioid use disorder visualize the consequences of certain personal choices; and mobile apps that support recovery, taking medications, or sensing an overdose.
In 2023, HEAL is making headway toward its mission to accelerate development of safe, non-addictive, and effective strategies to prevent and treat pain, opioid misuse, and overdose. We have 314 clinical trials underway and 41 submissions to the Food and Drug Administration to begin clinical testing of investigational new drugs or devices: That number has doubled in the last year. More than 100 projects alone are addressing back pain, and more than 200 projects are studying medications for opioid use disorder.
The nation’s opioid crisis is profoundly difficult and multifaceted—and it won’t be solved with any single approach. Our research is laser-focused on its vision of ending addiction long-term, including improving pain management and expanding access to underused, but highly effective, addiction medications. Every day, we imagine a better future for people with physical and emotional pain and communities that are hurting. Hundreds of researchers and community members across the country are working to achieve a future where people and communities have the tools they need to thrive.
References:
[1] Provisional drug overdose death counts. Ahmad FB, Cisewski JA, Rossen LM, Sutton P. National Center for Health Statistics. 2023.
[2] Recidivism and mortality after in-jail buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder. Evans EA, Wilson D, Friedmann PD. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2022 Feb 1;231:109254.
[3] Social stigma toward persons with opioid use disorder: Results from a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults. Taylor BG, Lamuda PA, Flanagan E, Watts E, Pollack H, Schneider J. Subst Use Misuse. 2021;56(12):1752-1764.
Links:
SAMHSA’s National Helpline (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, MD)
NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term® (HEAL) Initiative
Video: The NIH HEAL Initiative–HEAL Is Hope
Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (HEAL)
Back Pain Consortium Research Program (HEAL)
NIH HEAL Initiative 2023 Annual Report (HEAL)
Small Business Programs (HEAL)
Rebecca Baker (HEAL)
Note: Dr. Lawrence Tabak, who performs the duties of the NIH Director, has asked the heads of NIH’s Institutes, Centers, and Offices to contribute occasional guest posts to the blog to highlight some of the interesting science that they support and conduct. This is the 28th in the series of NIH guest posts that will run until a new permanent NIH director is in place.
All of Us Research Program Participants Fuel Both Scientific and Personal Discovery
Posted on by Josh Denny, M.D., M.S., All of Us Research Program
The NIH’s All of Us Research Program is a historic effort to create an unprecedented research resource that will speed biomedical breakthroughs, transform medicine and advance health equity. To create this resource, we are enrolling at least 1 million people who reflect the diversity of the United States.
At the program’s outset, we promised to make research a two-way street by returning health information to our participant partners. We are now delivering on that promise. We are returning personalized health-related DNA reports to participants who choose to receive them.
That includes me. I signed up to receive my “Medicine and Your DNA” and “Hereditary Disease Risk” reports along with nearly 200,000 other participant partners. I recently read my results, and they hit home, revealing an eye-opening connection between my personal and professional lives.
First, the professional. Before coming to All of Us, I was a practicing physician and researcher at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, where I studied how a person’s genes might affect his or her response to medications. One of the drug-gene interactions that I found most interesting is related to clopidogrel, a drug commonly prescribed to keep arteries open after a major cardiovascular event, like a heart attack, stroke, or placement of a stent.
People with certain gene variations are not able to process this medication well, leaving them in a potentially risky situation. The patient and their health care provider may think the condition is being managed. But, since they can’t process the medication, the patient’s symptoms and risks are likely to increase.
The impact on patients has been seen in numerous studies, including one that I published with colleagues last year in the Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Disease [1]. We found that stroke risk is three times higher in patients who were poor responders to clopidogrel and treated with the drug following a “mini-stroke”—also known as a transient ischemic attack. Other studies have shown that major cardiovascular events were 50 percent more common in individuals who were poor responders to clopidogrel [2]. Importantly, there are alternative therapies that work well for people with this genetic variant.
Now, the personal. Reading my health-related results, I learned that I carry some of these very same gene variations. So, if I ever needed a medicine to manage my risk of blood clots, clopidogrel would not likely work well for me.
Instead, should I ever need treatment, my provider and I could bypass this common first-line therapy and choose an alternate medicine. Getting the right treatment on the first try could cut my chances of a heart attack in half. The benefits of this knowledge don’t stop with me. By choosing to share my findings with family members who may have inherited the same genetic variations, they can discuss it with their health care teams.
Other program participants who choose to receive results will experience the same process of learning more about their health. Nearly all will get actionable information about how their body may process certain medications. A small percentage, 2 to 3 percent, may learn they’re at higher risk of developing several severe hereditary health conditions, such as certain preventable heart diseases and cancers. The program will provide a genetic counselor at no cost to all participants to discuss their results.
To enroll participants who reflect the country’s diverse population, All of Us partners with trusted community organizations around the country. Inclusion is vitally important in the field of genomics research, where available data have long originated mostly from people of European ancestry. In contrast, about 50 percent of the All of Us’ genomic data come from individuals who self-identify with a racial or ethnic minority group.
More than 3,600 research projects are already underway using data contributed by participants from diverse backgrounds. What’s especially exciting about this “ecosystem” of discovery between participants and researchers is that, by contributing their data, participants are helping researchers decode what our DNA is telling us about health across all types of conditions. In turn, those discoveries will deepen what participants can learn.
Those who have stepped up to join All of Us are the heartbeat of this historic research effort to advance personalized approaches in medicine. Their contributions are already fueling new discoveries in numerous areas of health.
At the same time, making good on our promises to our participant partners ensures that the knowledge gained doesn’t only accumulate in a database but is delivered back to participants to help advance their own health journeys. If you’re interested in joining All of Us, we welcome you to learn more.
References:
[1] CYP2C19 loss-of-function is associated with increased risk of ischemic stroke after transient ischemic attack in intracranial atherosclerotic disease. Patel PD, Vimalathas P, Niu X, Shannon CN, Denny JC, Peterson JF, Chitale RV, Fusco MR. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis. 2021 Feb;30(2):105464.
[2] Predicting clopidogrel response using DNA samples linked to an electronic health record. Delaney JT, Ramirez AH, Bowton E, Pulley JM, Basford MA, Schildcrout JS, Shi Y, Zink R, Oetjens M, Xu H, Cleator JH, Jahangir E, Ritchie MD, Masys DR, Roden DM, Crawford DC, Denny JC. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2012 Feb;91(2):257-263.
Links:
Join All of Us (All of Us/NIH)
NIH’s All of Us Research Program returns genetic health-related results to participants, NIH News Release, December 13, 2022.
NIH’s All of Us Research Program Releases First Genomic Dataset of Nearly 100,000 Whole Genome Sequences, NIH News Release, March 17, 2022.
Funding and Program Partners (All of Us)
Medicine and Your DNA (All of Us)
Clopidogrel Response (National Library of Medicine/NIH)
Hereditary Disease Risk (All of Us)
Preparing for DNA Results: What Is a Genetic Counselor? (All of Us)
Research Projects Directory (All of Us)
Note: Dr. Lawrence Tabak, who performs the duties of the NIH Director, has asked the heads of NIH’s Institutes, Centers, and Offices to contribute occasional guest posts to the blog to highlight some of the interesting science that they support and conduct. This is the 24th in the series of NIH guest posts that will run until a new permanent NIH director is in place.
The Role of Nursing Research in Achieving Health Equity
Posted on by Shannon N. Zenk, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.N., National Institute of Nursing Research
In our 2022-2026 Strategic Plan, the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) lays out an ambitious new mission: lead nursing research to solve pressing health challenges and inform practice and policy, optimizing health, and advancing health equity into the future.
At NINR, we strongly believe that nurses and nursing scientists need to be at the forefront in discovering solutions for our nation’s deeply rooted systemic and structural inequities. That’s why health equity is central to our new mission and strategic plan.
The NINR’s perspective on health equity is informed by definitions from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the World Health Organization (WHO). When considered together, these definitions provide a conceptual framework that can be applied to nursing research. We describe our perspective on health equity in the NINR strategic plan:
Health equity refers to a state in which every person has a fair and just opportunity to attain their full health potential. Inequities are rooted in systemic and structural factors, including historical and contemporary laws and policies, systems, values, and institutions, that limit access to power, opportunities, and resources for socially and economically disadvantaged groups. Structural and systemic factors, including structural racism, create obstacles to health and can lead to persistent health inequities.
The RWJF, CDC, and WHO definitions of health equity emphasize ethical and human rights principles, particularly social justice. They recognize that health disparities result from inequitable opportunities and obstacles that prevent everyone from having a fair and just opportunity to live their healthiest lives.
Ensuring that every person has a fair and just opportunity to attain their full health potential requires research that looks upstream and generates evidence-based solutions to removing obstacles to health, such as poverty, discrimination, and their consequences. That includes lack of access to good jobs with fair pay, quality education and housing, safe environments, and health care.
The magnitude of health inequities in the U.S. is both alarming and tragic. While research highlighting the stark health inequities that exist is vast, efforts aimed at eliminating them are limited.
That’s why NINR recently published funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) for research to optimize health and advance health equity. These funding announcements solicit R01 and R21 grant applications that propose independent or exploratory research projects that are consistent with the scientific framework detailed in our Strategic Plan. New applications will be accepted through February 2025, with the first deadline coming up on November 09, 2022.
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of hosting two outstanding speakers for a webinar on health equity: Chandra Ford, professor and founding director of the Center for the Study of Racism, Social Justice and Health at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles; and Suzanne Miyamoto, chief executive officer of the American Academy of Nursing, Washington, D.C.
The event was the second of a five-part NINR Director’s Lecture series. The first lecture, which we hosted in July, focused on social determinants of health. This webinar featured Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, dean of the School of Nursing at Duke University, Durham, NC; and Brian Castrucci, president and CEO of de Beaumont Foundation, Bethesda, MD.
Each of the webinars in the series highlights a different research lens in our new strategic plan. A research lens is a perspective through which to view health challenges. The NINR’s research lenses are health equity, social determinants of health, population and community health, disease prevention and health promotion, and systems and models of care.
Our distinguished guests shared research priorities and practice and policy implications of nursing research through the lenses in our strategic plan. Providing a platform for such speakers, all of whom have dedicated their research and policy work to advancing health equity and addressing social determinants of health, helps us to achieve our mission. It does so by guiding scientists on how to apply our research lenses to their work.
I encourage you to check out NINR’s recent webinars on our YouTube channel. The speakers’ insights are valuable to nursing scientists. They also are valuable to anyone who aims to advance health equity and address social determinants of health, which require scientific approaches that are multidisciplinary and multisectoral. Indeed, our funding opportunities are open to all investigators who share an interest in our scientific framework. Please share these resources and opportunities broadly with your peers and colleagues.
Links:
National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR/NIH)
National Institute of Nursing Research, 2022–2026 Strategic Plan (NINR)
NINR Director’s Lecture—Health Equity (NINR)
What is Health Equity? (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, NJ)
What is Health Equity? (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta)
Health Equity and its Determinants (World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland)
Note: Dr. Lawrence Tabak, who performs the duties of the NIH Director, has asked the heads of NIH’s Institutes and Centers (ICs) to contribute occasional guest posts to the blog to highlight some of the interesting science that they support and conduct. This is the 19th in the series of NIH IC guest posts that will run until a new permanent NIH director is in place.
