title: Genetic research and health disparities.
abstract: Alleviating health disparities in the United States is a goal with broad support. Medical research undertaken to achieve this goal typically adopts the well-established perspective that racial discrimination and poverty are the major contributors to unequal health status. However, the suggestion is increasingly made that genetic research also has a significant role to play in alleviating this problem, which likely overstates the importance of genetics as a factor in health disparities. Overemphasis on genetics as a major explanatory factor in health disparities could lead researchers to miss factors that contribute to disparities more substantially and may also reinforce racial stereotyping, which may contribute to disparities in the first place. Arguments that promote genetics research as a way to help alleviate health disparities are augmented by several factors, including research funding initiatives and the distinct demographic patterns of health disparities in the United States.
authors.affiliation: Center for Bioethics, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104-3308, USA. sankarp@mail.med.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sankar
authors.forename: Mildred K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Celeste M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Condit
authors.forename: Linda M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Koenig
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: Sandra Soo-Jin
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Spicer
mesh_terms: D036281:Genetic Research; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006304:Health Status; D040361:Healthy People Programs; D016045:Human Genome Project; D006801:Humans; D008913:Minority Groups; D011203:Poverty; D011287:Prejudice; D014481:United States