
Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications
Publication Date
5-1-2024
Journal
Nature Genetics
DOI
10.1038/s41588-024-01711-z
PMID
38684898
PMCID
PMC11096049
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
5-16-2024
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Humans, Genomics, Health Equity, United States, Genome, Human, National Human Genome Research Institute (U.S.)
Abstract
Health equity is the state in which everyone has fair and just opportunities to attain their highest level of health. The field of human genomics has fallen short in increasing health equity, largely because the diversity of the human population has been inadequately reflected among participants of genomics research. This lack of diversity leads to disparities that can have scientific and clinical consequences. Achieving health equity related to genomics will require greater effort in addressing inequities within the field. As part of the commitment of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) to advancing health equity, it convened experts in genomics and health equity research to make recommendations and performed a review of current literature to identify the landscape of gaps and opportunities at the interface between human genomics and health equity research. This Perspective describes these findings and examines health equity within the context of human genomics and genomic medicine.