Perspective Roundtable
Race in Medicine — Genetic Variation, Social Categories, and Paths to Health Equity
Michele K. Evans, M.D., Joseph L. Graves, Jr., Ph.D., Ruth S. Shim, M.D., M.P.H., Sarah A. Tishkoff, Ph.D.
and Winfred W. Williams, M.D.
Introductions
DR. MICHELE EVANS: Welcome to the Race and Medicine Roundtable hosted by the New England
Journal of Medicine. My name is Michele Evans. I am the deputy scientific director at the National
Institute on Aging. I will serve as the moderator today. In addition, I'm a member of the NEJM editorial
board.
I'm joined today by several esteemed panelists: Dr. Joseph Graves, Dr. Ruth Shim, Dr. Sarah Tishkoff, and
Dr. Win Williams.
DR. JOSEPH GRAVES: My name is Joseph Graves, Jr. I am a professor of biological sciences at North
Carolina A&T State University. My research concerns the genomics of adaptation as well as biological
and social conceptions of race in humans.
DR. RUTH SHIM: Hi, everyone. My name is Ruth Shim. I am the Luke and Grace Kim Professor in Cultural
Psychiatry at the University of California at Davis. I'm also the associate dean of diverse and inclusive
education at the University of California at Davis and the School of Medicine. My background relates to
structural racism as it relates to mental health, and the outcomes of racism and the impact on mental
health.
DR. SARAH TISHKOFF: Hello, my name is Sarah Tishkoff. I'm a professor in the Departments of Genetics
and Biology at the University of Pennsylvania. I'm also the director of the Center for Global Genomics
and Health Equity at the University of Pennsylvania. My research focuses on studies of the human
population genetic diversity with a focus on Africa. I study human evolutionary history in Africa and the
genetic basis of both normal variable traits as well as disease risk, with an emphasis on people of African
ancestry
DR. WIN WILLIAMS: Hello. My name is Dr. Win Williams. I'm the associate chief of the Division of
Nephrology at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard
Medical School. I'm also the founding director of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion at MGH, and also
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