STEM Fields

According to new research presented at the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology conference, Black and Latinx patients with prostate cancer are significantly less likely than White patients to have had a novel imaging technique that has been associated with improved diagnosis and treatment capabilities.

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

The partnership will connect faculty and staff at Charles R. Drew University with students who are members of several Identity Centers at the University of California, Riverside. Participating students will be introduced to CDU's graduate and professional programs and special priority for scholarship opportunities will be provided to UCR students who choose to enroll at the historically Black medical school.

Earlier this year, the National Institutes of Health terminated hundreds of grants across its institutions and centers. The National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities was particularly affected, experiencing the greatest proportion of terminated funding relative to previously active funding across all NIH institutes and centers.

Overall, assistant professors of medicine from racial backgrounds underrepresented in the field (non-White and non-Asian), earn $0.93 for every $1 earned by their White peers. Pay disparities are even more pronounced for underrepresented women, who earn just $0.78 for every $1 earned by their White male counterparts.

The new Science Center at Morgan State University "will be on the cutting edge of discovery," says Maryland Governor Wes Moore. "Maryland will build it. Maryland will educate it. Maryland will grow it, and the world will benefit from it. Morgan will soon be ranked among the best places for research in the world.”

To expand its patient care services and student training opportunities, Meharry Medical College has recently purchased eight new medical clinics in Nashville and Memphis. Combined, the clinics currently serve 25,000 patients.

“This is a big deal for our department and a point of pride for our faculty,” said Felicia Simpson, department chair and professor of mathematics. “We are changing students’ perception of mathematics.”

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

Breast cancer deaths among Black women aged 20-49 dropped from 16.54 deaths per 100,000 women in 2010 to just 3.41 deaths per 100,000 women in 2020. However, Black women's breast cancer mortality remains notably higher than that of White women, whose morality rate in 2020 was only 1.16 deaths per 100,000 women.

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

"The significance of this personally is to show young women of color, who are in various stages of their careers, that women can lead and be effective leaders at the highest levels," said Dr. Simms-Mackey, an HBCU alumna and volunteer professor at the University of California, San Francisco.

“It is impossible to teach everything a new nurse will face on the job in the classroom alone. Technologies like VR and AI help bridge that gap by providing a flexible, immersive learning experience aligned with the curriculum,” said Tina Scott, director of experiential learning at the NCCU department of nursing.

"Increasing trust among Black communities requires the medical profession to become more trustworthy," the study authors write. "Part of building trust is increasing the opportunity for members of underrepresented groups to be in positions of authority, including as principal investigators and physicians."

The pharmacy schools at Hampton University and Makerere University in Uganda have established a new partnership to advance education and research opportunities for pharmacy students at both institutions.

Prairie View A&M University's new master's degree will provide students with an advanced nutrition education, research opportunities, and community engagement initiatives, preparing them for diverse careers in nutrition and dietetics.

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

Dr. Simpson is an associate professor and chair of the department of mathematics at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. She studies the design of clinical trials, the metrics of aging, and initiatives to increase diversity in the field of statistics.

In an online experiment using two short documentary films, viewers consistently rated Black women scientists as less warm and less competent than Black men and White scientists of both genders, particularly when they introduced a White test subject.

Funded by a grant from the University of North Carolina System, the PULSE Apple Initiative at North Carolina Central University will provide all admitted nursing students with an iPad to use during their studies and after graduation.