Author: Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

High school founded with help of med school leader receives accolades (Links to an external site)

Hamza Jalal (left), a first-year student at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, tours the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience in south St. Louis with his mentor and the high school’s co-founder, Will Ross, MD, the medical school’s associate dean for diversity.

Will Ross co-founded Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience in 2013. A magnet public high school, Collegiate aims to serve high-achieving students, many of whom reside in under-resourced neighborhoods and are interested in pursuing careers in science, medicine and health. In August, Collegiate School was ranked the No. 2 public high school out of 455 schools in Missouri, and No. 150 in the nation.

Healthcare advocate Brenda Battle keynotes HG Phillips Lecture (Links to an external site)

From left, Dr. Will Ross, Dr. Nathaniel Murdoch, and Brenda Battle, following the Homer G. Phillips Public Health Lecture.

Brenda Battle returned to St. Louis to deliver the Homer G. Phillips Public Health Lecture Series keynote address and she offered a stirring message urging the region to reduce its healthcare disparities. The annual event carried the 2023 theme of “Anchoring Communities: A Roadmap to Equity and Transformation in Marginalized Communities.”

Class Acts: Alexandra Zdonczyk (Links to an external site)

Class Acts: Alexandra Zdonczyk

Medical student focused on health equity in vision care As a Latina, I also see many examples of health inequities among native Spanish speakers. A lot of providers don’t speak Spanish. Language barriers can have a major impact on health care. It’s important for people who are bilingual, like me, to go into the community, […]

Shining a light on Black women physicians

From the Civil War to the 21st century, Black women have fought to become physicians. A new book by Jasmine Brown, AB ’18, tells the story of the barriers Black women pursuing a career in medicine have faced throughout ­history. ­Published in January, Twice as Hard ­(Beacon Press) shines a light on the achievements of these ­women, often ignored or forgotten.

Equity for African Americans in Alzheimer’s disease (Links to an external site)

For 20 years, the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center has worked to boost diversity in clinical trials Washington University has worked hard to break the national pattern. In 2000, it established one of the country’s earliest groups dedicated to increasing African American participation in Alzheimer’s research: the African American Advisory Board at the Charles F. and […]

Happy Ramadan!

Last week marked the beginning of Ramadan this year. People all over the world, here in St. Louis, and many colleagues and patients will be celebrating and observing Ramadan. As we work towards a culture that values diversity and a community that strives to foster belonging, we thought it might be helpful to share a […]