Apr 2 2021

4/2 – Hugo Caicedo, Member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council and MIT Connection Science

April 2, 2021

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Address

Chicago, IL

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Title: Surfacing anti-Black science and building antiracist teams

Abstract: In mid 2020, following the brutal killing of a Black man, George Floyd, by police in the United States, a myriad voices involved in the science and commercial business of biotech called for action on systemic racism in society and in science. In late June of 2020, the world’s largest scientific society, the American Chemical Society, vigorously pointed out that it is abundantly clear that the lack of representation of Black people and members of other under-represented minorities in science and engineering education and employment is a symptom of systemic racism across all levels of education and professional life. As a Black man living in the United States, a professional contributing to the science and commercial business of biotech, and a police survivor myself, I was invited by the journal Nature Biotechnology to write an article covering racism in science and medicine. In this talk, I hope to raise awareness of unethical anti-Black ‘science’ and help improve public understanding of the causes and effects of racial inequity and exclusion in the life sciences. I also outline concrete action items that the biopharmaceutical industry and research academic institutions may consider to create equitable antiracist teams. The goal is not to point fingers but to raise awareness of multigenerational injuries, avoid historical mistakes, visibilize current social realities, and co-develop a more equitable world with a leveled playing field for all human beings.

Contact

UIC Bioengineering

Date posted

Mar 15, 2021

Date updated

Mar 15, 2021