Penn Bioethics Seminar Series (PBS): "What Does Diversity Mean in Biomedicine?" led by Catherine Lee, PhD

12:00pm - 1:00pm • Virtual, via Zoom

2025-01-28 12:00:00 2025-01-28 13:00:00 America/New_York Penn Bioethics Seminar Series (PBS): "What Does Diversity Mean in Biomedicine?" led by Catherine Lee, PhD What Does Diversity Mean in Biomedicine? Catherine Lee, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Sociology Rutgers University Celebrations of “diversity” abound in 21st century United States, from universities to Fortune 500 companies. While there have been numerous studies of what this implies for institutions such as higher education, there has been far less attention paid to what diversity means in U.S. biomedicine. This is an unfortunate oversight for the field of biomedicine plays a unique role in shaping cultural and political notions of inclusion and representation in addition to social, as well as biological, meanings of difference—all of which have consequences for how we deal with issues such as racial or ethnic health inequalities. A crucial question we must first address is what diversity means in biomedicine. Dr. Lee draws upon data from interviews with individuals in biomedical research, healthcare delivery, and pharmaceutical development as well as computational text analysis of two million abstracts of biomedical research articles to investigate how diversity is defined and used. Dr. Lee will explore how and why reference to diversity has grown, whether diversity is replacing race as some sociologists have argued, and what diversity talk and projects suggest for how we address health inequities, social justice, and the meaning of biocitizenship. Virtual, via Zoom Virtual, via Zoom Penn Medical Ethics

Celebrations of “diversity” abound in 21st century United States, from universities to Fortune 500 companies. While there have been numerous studies of what this implies for institutions such as higher education, there has been far less attention paid to what diversity means in U.S. biomedicine. This is an unfortunate oversight for the field of biomedicine plays a unique role in shaping cultural and political notions of inclusion and representation in addition to social, as well as biological, meanings of difference—all of which have consequences for how we deal with issues such as racial or ethnic health inequalities. A crucial question we must first address is what diversity means in biomedicine.

Dr. Lee draws upon data from interviews with individuals in biomedical research, healthcare delivery, and pharmaceutical development as well as computational text analysis of two million abstracts of biomedical research articles to investigate how diversity is defined and used. Dr. Lee will explore how and why reference to diversity has grown, whether diversity is replacing race as some sociologists have argued, and what diversity talk and projects suggest for how we address health inequities, social justice, and the meaning of biocitizenship.