Research & Studies

The National Medical Association was established in 1895 because physicians of color were not permitted to be members of the American Medical Association. Today, the National Medical Association has 30,000 members. A recent study finds that articles published in the association's medical journal are almost never cited in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In an August 2022 survey by the Pew Research Center, 54 percent of Black adults said they had a very or somewhat negative impression of capitalism, up from 40 percent in May 2019. Four-in-ten Black adults held a very or somewhat positive view of capitalism in 2022, down from 57 percent in 2019.

Black men are more than twice as likely as other men to die from prostate cancer. A new study led by researchers at the University of Southern California identified nine new genetic risk factors for prostate cancer, seven of which are found either largely or exclusively in men of African ancestry. This new information can help patients understand their cancer risk and decide how early and often to get screened.

A team of researchers who followed more than 48,000 Black women over 22 years found those who reported experiencing interpersonal racism in employment, housing, and in interactions with the police had a 26 percent higher risk of coronary heart disease than those who did not.

Super principal investigators have three or more concurrent grants from the National Institutes of Health. In 2020, just 1 percent of all Black principal investigators were super principal investigators. For Whites, 4.1 percent of all principal investigators were super principal investigators.

But the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida notes that Blacks are only 9.9. percent of the head football coaches at the 131 colleges and universities that make up the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. African Americans made up 49 percent of the football players at these schools.

Patients who receive an early diagnosis of uterine cancer, have a 95 percent chance to survive for at least five years. But Black patients are less likely than their White counterparts to receive diagnostic testing and for those who do receive the recommended procedures, Blacks are more likely to experience delays in testing and diagnosis.

A new survey by the Pew Research Center finds that among Among college-educated Black adults, 61 percent believe that the feminist movement has helped Black women. Only 45 percent of Black adults with only a high school education agree. Only 16 percent of Black adults believe that feminism has helped Black women a lot.

In 2022, 27.6 percent of African Americans over the age of 25 had obtained at least a bachelor’s degree. For non-Hispanic Whites, the figure was 48.2 percent. Some 10.1 percent of Black adults held a graduate or professional degree compared to 15.7 percent of non-Hispanic Whites.

More than 1.1 million African American men are imprisoned in the United States, and about 500,000 are fathers. Many of their fathers also served time in jail or prison, and studies have shown that it is likely that many of their children will as well.

A new study led by scholars at Rice University in Houston, Texas, found that when middle and high school teachers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) pursue continuing professional development, their students benefit. The effect was particularly evident for Black girls.

The new Lumina-Gallup Student Study finds that 22 percent of African American college students provide care to children, friends, seniors, or other relatives. One out of every five African American college students also has a full-time job. Both of these are about double the rate for bachelor's degree students as a whole.

A study led by Darrell Hudson, an associate professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis, finds that there is a significant association between everyday discrimination and depressive symptoms among college-educated African American young adults. More than 15 percent of the sample reported that they had been diagnosed with depression by a health care provider at some point in their lives.

The study found that one of every 10 Black patients at emergency rooms believed that their race impacted the quality of care that they received. Black patients reported that race most heavily affected the quality of care, respect, and communication.

A new study by Jayanti Owens, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management, found that teachers tend to blame Black boys more than White boys for identical misbehaviors and are more likely to send them to the principal’s office.

Overall, 40 percent of American adults have ever had immediate family incarcerated, 34 percent have ever had extended family incarcerated, and more than half of adults have ever had any family incarcerated. For Blacks, 60 percent of adults have experienced an immediate family member’s incarceration, 53 percent have experienced extended family incarceration, and 74 percent have experienced either of those events.