With its February announcement of a two-year, $1 million grant to a new Baltimore initiative focused on racial disparities in the field of neuroscience, the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative didnt just take another step toward its goal of funding research leading to the cure or treatment of all human disease by the end of this century. The grant is also a step toward ensuring that fewer people will be left out of both the process and the benefits of that research.

CZIs grant will help fund the development of the African Ancestry Neuroscience Research Initiative (AANRI), a partnership between Baltimores Lieber Institute for Brain Development, historically Black Morgan State University, and community leaders helmed by the Rev. Dr. Alvin C. Hathaway, the retired pastor of West Baltimores Union Baptist Church. First announced in 2019, AANRIs aims include alleviating the Black communitys distrust of the medical and research establishment, eventually improving health outcomes by vastly increasing the racial diversity of donated brains available to neuroscientists studying the causes and treatments of everything from psychiatric disorders to Alzheimers Disease, and diversifying the field of neuroscience itself. AANRI has also attracted support from the Abell Foundation, Brown Capital Management, and the state of Maryland.

When it comes to the ways that the countrys health care system has betrayed and failed Black Americans, the infamous Tuskegee syphilis experiments of the 20th century are just one example of medicines many tresspasses. Other examples of medical neglect and outright abuse of Black patients includes forced sterilization, frequent failures to treat their pain or take it seriously, and the disparate toll of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are also glaring disparities among practitioners. Only 4% of American physicians are Black, and its too early to tell whether the notable increase in Black medical school applicants in 2021 will translate to more representation in the profession. Given that history and todays reality, it shouldnt come as a surprise that underrepresented minority groups, including Black Americans, comprise less than 5% of the research cohorts in neuroscience research studies.

The lack of Black representation in neuroscience research subjects is a real problem in a country where Black Americans are twice as likely to develop Alzheimers, 20% more likely to develop serious mental health problems, and suicide rates for Black children under 13 are twice as high as the rates of children of European ancestry, according to AANRIs website.

Increasing the diversity of donated brains to study isnt just about being representative for the sake of being representative and fair and proportionate, said CZI Science Program Officer Katja Brose, who holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry. Instead, she said, its about bringing a deep and thorough level of science to bear on questions like the contributions of differences in genetics, or how much of an impact differing environments and life experiences, including experiences of racism, have on determining who may develop a brain disorder.

To put it another way, we dont even know what we dont know, said Patricia Flores, a senior communications associate at CZI who works closely with several of the funders scientists. We just know that were missing a large swath of the pot. The majority of the globe is being missed in the science that we understand today.

Is science funding diversifying?

CZIs grant to develop AANRI is only one of several moves in the past few years aiming to promote more diversity in the sciences. In 2021, for example, the MacArthur Foundation committed $2 million to the Native Biodata Consortium, the worlds first Indigenous-led bio-repository, which, like AANRI, is also working to both diversify the field of medical research and help insure that the subjects of that research benefit from its results. Last year, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute launched a $2 billion initiative to diversify academic science more broadly.

CZI is also no stranger to moving money to promote greater diversity in the sciences. A quick look at the funders grants database reveals money being moved to scientific organizations focused on underrepresented groups, efforts like AANRI to diversify sample studies, and, in a 2021 grant to the Americas Health Foundation, efforts to advance a more equitable rare disease advocacy and research ecosystem in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Beyond the anecdotal evidence, its hard to say whether were seeing an overall uptick in funding in this area, but theres definitely a lot of room for more such giving considering the far reach of federal and philanthropic science funding. The National Institutes of Health alone reports that it dedicates most of its $45 billion budget to medical research; last year, one study identified about $30 billion in annual philanthropic funding for scientific work.

One way well truly know whether scientific funding, including money for medical research and to train new scientists and doctors, has truly diversified will be by watching for practical results. Are health disparities improving or disappearing? How common is it for a patient to be seen by a doctor or other health specialist whos Black or another person of color? In the meantime, well do our best to shout out funders efforts to promote diversity in the sciences and call out funders who dont seem to have gotten the memo.

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CZIs Grant for Diversity in Neuroscience is a Positive Development ... - Inside Philanthropy