Agenda

This keynote talk will highlight the importance of representation in all aspects of research. In particular, disability should not be an afterthought and can strengthen the research being done. Key aspects about intersectionality and designing research with intentionality will be discussed.

This session will discuss the applicability of Universal Design to enhance equity and inclusion in research. Discussants will address the current state of universal design in research from the perspective of disability inclusion in research, barriers to increasing a universal design approach in research, and potential solutions to overcome these barriers.

Trust at all levels is necessary for the U.S. health care system to deliver the high-quality care all patients deserve. During this session, attendees will learn how they can help advance the conversation based on evidence to support action both locally and nationally to build trust. The ABIM Foundation has fostered a national conversation around health equity and the importance of trust between all relationships in health care and provides physician certification so patients trust that they are receiving the best care. The AAMC provides education, promotes research, and advocates for community collaboration in order to restore and build trust across the U.S.

Equitable and effective clinical research requires diverse stakeholder input from conception through dissemination. In this panel we will ask researchers and a local community leader about their experience with community engaged research and their advice for forging healthy and respectful research partnerships between researchers and community organizations.

There is an urgent need to invest in community partnerships and community-based organizations to lead research and action to improve health. This session will feature the collaborative health equity and social justice work of Community Campus Partnerships for Health, led by CEO Mr. Al Richmond, and the Center for Health Equity Research at the University of North Carolina, led by Professor Giselle Corbie-Smith. Dr. Karriem Watson, Chief Engagement Officer for the National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program, will moderate this panel to highlight examples of what can be achieved through authentic partnerships, and what work needs to be done to invest in real community-driven change.

This session highlights the challenges and opportunities in creating community partnerships to drive forward cutting-edge clinical research. Local leaders and researchers will offer practical advice for those who are looking to create community partnerships in research beyond the Community Advisory Board model.

It is critical that protocols are written specifically to account for the demographics and patient characteristics of those impacted by the illness being studied. There are ample examples in study literature documenting the “blind spot” we often have to this, leading to biases in study design which limit inclusion of specific patients, and stifling appropriate diversity in the trial. This is not only a scientific concern of appropriate representation regarding disease burden, but is an ethical issue when considering clinical trials as part of the healthcare continuum.

This session will focus on specific researchers who have dedicated their careers to using the results of their DE&I research to take action in and impact clinical care. The discussants will provide specific examples that resulted in public reactions and how institutional commitment and support is required to successfully implement evidence-based changes in how we provide equitable health care.

The science of genomics adds additional complexity to efforts to achieve greater diversity in medical research and medical care. This multi-disciplinary panel of medical, computational, legal and policy experts will discuss how population genomics can recognize diverse human ancestries groupings, and how these do and do not map onto the social construct of race in the US and around world.

This session will present the history and framework of a community research program at a major community health center, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Chelsea HealthCare Center, in the Mass General Brigham health system. The mission of the MGH Chelsea Community Research Program is to support research across the lifespan from an inclusive, interdisciplinary perspective. The Program provides a venue for highlighting and engaging with community-based research and aims to integrate community voices of community organizations and residents. Panel members will describe the mission and objectives of the Research Program, its outputs, and its ongoing evolution. Key Program pillars will be described including a monthly Research Roundtable discussion forum, an annual Research Day/Week, Research Council, Advisory Board, and a proposed community Advisory Board for Clinical Research (ABCR).

More than 160 Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) healthcare products that are related to radiology and other medical imaging specialties are currently FDA-cleared. While there is excitement around the promise of AI in healthcare to improve diagnosis, increase efficiency and save cost, there remain concerns about bias in the mathematical models, lack of diversity in the workforce and in patient cohorts each of which can impact AI tool results. In this session we will hear a high-level introduction to AI in medical imaging, a description of the processing pipeline involved in creating machine learning models, where risk of inequities can appear, and thoughts for addressing these challenges.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being implemented into many aspects of the daily workflow of clinical practice. Examples include AI algorithms that adjust the number of imaging studies that can be ‘overbooked’ into a schedule to adjust for no show appointments, to automated ‘pop-up’ reminders and warnings in a patient’s medical record, to automated, prioritized, triaged work lists for Radiologists to read studies with potential life-threatening findings. These AI algorithms profoundly change the practice of medicine. Development of these AI tools must carefully consider the myriad ways in which healthcare disparities can be exacerbated before and when they are deployed. In this panel we will consider the key issues facing AI developers, regulators and those on the front lines doing the implementation.

Through an interactive fireside chat approach with panelists, this session will be focused on discussing the digital divide and telehealth barriers that were underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic, and how to drive technological equity (techquity) through novel digital research recruitment and digital care delivery transformation that promotes trust and inclusion among diverse communities.

This session will provide an overview of the principles and practice of equity focused implementation research. We will first provide an overview of the core components of an equity-focused approach to implementation of evidence-based practice consisting of reframing implementation science to address inequities in health care, including focusing on reach from the beginning, involving stakeholders in the design and adaptation, and using an equity lens for evaluation implementation outcomes. We will then provide a local example of a pragmatic, equity-focused implementation process, methods, and evaluation approach conducted by Harvard researchers partnering with community health center providers in the Boston-area.

This session will provide an overview of strategies for equity-based Implementation & Delivery Science. We will begin with a background on equity in implementation science, what does it mean to implement with equity and what is needed to sustain it. The speakers will then share several conceptual models for the implementation of equity in research, including methodological problems in how race is used as a moderator and attributed differential effects based on the intervention as well as examples from their own research experiences. They will explore practices to ensure that equity goals are being met and share strategies for implementation efforts using an equity lens. The panel will present problems in how Implementation Science tends to operate without considering the life circumstances of people of color and other major issues that detract from long term adoption and sustainability of these strategies.