MedStar Health STEM Project Tackles COVID with the Help of Students

I'm happy to share some of the work our summer interns have been doing with our STEM program. Four Coolidge High School graduates worked with our research teams investigating COVID-19 health equity. 

The group’s advisor, Raj Ratwani, PhD said the work is not only critical to addressing the inequity in the country’s COVID-19 response, but it also addresses the achievement gap in STEM fields exposing students from underrepresented groups to some of the biggest scientific challenges facing the country.

At the core of the work is determining whether health departments across the country are presenting COVID-19 data in an accurate and understandable way, asking questions like whether the data is scattered or comprehensive, does it offer demographic breakdowns.

Check out the news story on NBC Washington here.  In addition to these high school students, we have several summer interns from Morgan State and Howard University.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Betsey, Lucy, and Anarcha: Recognition and Remembrance" with MHRI

Image
On Monday, in collaboration with MedStar Washington Hospital Center Women and Infants' Services OBGYN Department, MHRI Senior Leadership, D.C. Safe Babies Safe Moms, and MedStar Research AIDE, we hosted a virtual gathering "Betsey, Lucy, and Anarcha: Recognition and Remembrance" to honor and remember the lives of enslaved women that suffered in the name of science and medical discovery. We chose this day as the overlap of Black History Month and Women's History Month. After opening remarks from several MedStar Health leaders, w e viewed two educational videos together: The Disturbing History of American Medicine | Racist American History and The US Medical System is Still Haunted by Slavery . The videos discussed Dr. J.Marion Sims,and the  experimental surgeries he performed on enslaved women, including Betsey, Lucy, Anarcha and others. Sims performed 30 surgeries on Anarcha alone, without anesthesia or other pain management practices typically offered to white patie
Read more

World Medical Innovation Forum 2018

Image
Medical knowledge is increasing at an exponential rate, so as of 2018, it is doubling every 73 days! I find that hard to believe but certainly agree that it is humanly impossible to stay current on all aspects of healthcare just by reading more or attending more conference. We must use team science and interdisciplinary models of care. We also must embrace technology solutions. Therein lays the power of artificial intelligence in healthcare. This will undoubtedly transform how we practice medicine tomorrow.   I write this blog post from the World Medical Innovation Forum in Boston, dedicated to the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in healthcare. Over 1600 professionals from very diverse backgrounds (engineers and industry to startups and clinicians) came together to discuss how to use AI to make healthcare better, safer, and more efficient. Some estimate that AI combined with big data will reduce total healthcare spending by $450 billion annually! There
Read more

MedStar Health's Upcoming Advertising Campaign!

Image
It's a great time to feel proud to be a part of the MedStar system!  I'm very excited to share with you MedStar Health’s multimedia advertising campaign that will launch Monday, December 15 in the Washington, DC and Baltimore regions.  The campaign, which will run through mid-February, features 30-second TV commercials, print and digital advertising, as well as social media.  The goals of the campaign are to: 1)     Enhance MedStar Health’s reputation as the trusted leader in caring for people and advancing health 2)     Continue building MedStar Health’s brand awareness and, ultimately, consumer preference. 3)     Spotlight key service lines in the Washington, DC region. 4)     Promote MedStar Health as an integrated healthcare delivery system by highlighting our strengths: our people, comprehensive services, expertise, innovation and technology. The underlying theme of the TV ads is “In One Day …” The ads demonstrate that the work we do is inspiri
Read more