Tag Archives: african american

Hollywood failing to keep up with rapidly increasing diversity, UCLA study warns

When it comes to influential positions in the entertainment industry, minorities and women are represented at rates far below what would be expected given their percentage of the general population, according to a new study done at UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies.

In fact, the report shows, the proportion of female and minority actors, writers, directors and producers in films and TV ranges from just one-twelfth to one-half of their actual population percentage. (more…)

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Who Won’t Take Their Medicine?

UA anthropologist Susan J. Shaw and UA pharmacist Jeannie Lee have been awarded $1.48 million from the NIH to study medication adherence and health literacy.

UA associate professor of anthropology Susan J. Shaw and UA assistant professor of pharmacy Jeannie Lee have received $1.48 million from the National Institutes of Health to study factors that impact medication adherence among residents in Massachusetts, where state law mandated that nearly every resident receive a minimum level of health care insurance coverage. (more…)

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‘Life as Research Scientist’: Angel Byrd, Cell Biologist

For years, Brown University M.D./Ph.D. student Angel Byrd had dedicated herself to studying how immune system cells capture invading fungal pathogens. Like those cells, called neutrophils, she had seized on seemingly every opportunity that had come her way. (more…)

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Women and HIV: A story of racial and ethnic health disparities

The history of women with HIV/AIDS in the United States is really a story of racial and ethnic health disparities.

Overall, the rate of American women contracting the disease relative to men has climbed from 8 percent in the 1980s to 25 percent today. But most of this burden is in underserved communities: one in 32 African-American women will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime, as will one in 106 Latina women. Meanwhile, one in 526 Caucasian and Asian women will contract the virus. Death rates are also higher for African-American and Latina women, making it one of the leading causes of death for those groups. (more…)

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Virtual Reality Could Help People Lose Weight, Fight Prejudice, Says MU Researcher

Study found that online presence can positively affect physical health and well-being

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Internet-based interactive games and social media outlets have become intertwined with the physical realities of millions of people around the world. When an individual strongly identifies with the cyber representation of themselves, known as an avatar, the electronic doppelganger can influence that person’s health and appearance, according to a University of Missouri researcher’s study. Harnessing the power of the virtual world could lead to new forms of obesity treatment and help break down racial and sexual prejudices.

“The creation of an avatar allows an individual to try on a new appearance and persona, with little risk or effort,” said Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz, assistant professor of communication in MU’s College of Arts and Science. “That alter-ego can then have a positive influence on a person’s life. For example, people seeking to lose weight could create fitter avatars to help visualize themselves as slimmer and healthier.” (more…)

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Racial ‘Hierarchy of Bias’ Drives Decision to Shoot Armed, Unarmed Suspects, CU-Boulder Study Finds

Police officers and students exhibit an apparent “hierarchy of bias” in making a split-second decision whether to shoot suspects who appear to be wielding a gun or, alternatively, a benign object like a cell phone, research conducted by the University of Colorado Boulder and San Diego State University has found.

Both the police and student subjects were most likely to shoot at blacks, then Hispanics, then whites and finally, in a case of what might be called a positive bias, Asians, researchers found. (more…)

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A Tradition is Born

At Huntley House, black male students find companions and support

It’s not every day you get to meet somebody who’s made history.

That happened in September for the young men of Huntley House, a section of Sanford Hall for black, male first-year students.

The students met Huntley House namesake Horace Huntley, who in 1969 took part in the takeover of Morrill Hall and occupation of the president’s office. The action called attention to the situation of black University of Minnesota students and led to the creation of what is now the Department of African American & African Studies. (more…)

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Taking Race Out of the Equation in Measuring Women’s Risk of Osteoporosis and Fractures

For women of mixed racial or ethnic backgrounds, a new method for measuring bone health may improve the odds of correctly diagnosing their risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures, according to a UCLA-led study.

Currently, assessing osteoporosis and the risk of fractures from small accidents like falls requires a bone density scan. But because these scans don’t provide other relevant fracture-related information, such as bone size and the amount of force a bone is subjected to during a fall, each patient’s bone density is examined against a national database of people with the same age and race or ethnicity. (more…)

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