Page 5 - MSM Primarily Caring Magazine

den of student debt and empower our gradu- the Century” alongside such luminaries as
ates to take on the systemic racial inequities Rosa Parks, Harper Lee, Coretta Scott King
and injustice that have been exacerbated by and Condoleezza Rice.
the coronavirus pandemic,” said Morehouse In honor of August’s 100th anniversary of
School of Medicine President and Dean Valerie the 19th Amendment granting women the right
Montgomery Rice, M.D. “These dollars will to vote, the digital and print news outlet is
help free up future doctors to immediately naming 10 American women from all 50 states,
head to the front lines and save Black lives plus the District of Columbia. Dr. Green was
while also improving health care access, equity one of the first Black women in the country
and quality for everyone. We appreciate Mayor to earn a doctorate in physics. She created a
Bloomberg’s investment in health equity.” cancer foundation in honor of her aunt and
The country is becoming more and more has received a $1.1 million grant from the
diverse, but the diversity of its health care Department of Veteran Affairs to continue
workforce still lags, with African Americans her research.
SEPTEMBER 2020 comprising just 5 percent of the physician
Bloomberg Philanthropies Commits workforce. This is due, in large part, to the
$26.3M Gift to Morehouse School of high cost of completing a medical degree.
Medicine The impact is significant, given that studies
Nation’s four historically Black medical schools show that Black patients tend to have better
are to receive $100 million to fund medical student outcomes when treated by Black physicians.
scholarships. “More Black doctors will mean more Black
lives saved and fewer health problems that
MSM has been awarded $26.3 million from limit economic opportunity,” said Michael
Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthro-
organization founded by entrepreneur and pies and Bloomberg LP and three-term mayor
former New York City mayor and presidential of New York City. “During my campaign for
candidate Michael Bloomberg. The donation president, I proposed a bold set of policies—
is part of a $100 million fund for students which we called the Greenwood Initiative—to
attending the nation’s four historically Black shrink the racial wealth gap. Today’s commit-
medical schools: Morehouse School of Medi- ment by Bloomberg Philanthropies is just the Herman Taylor, M.D.
cine (Atlanta), Charles R. Drew University of first step we will take to bring that work to life.” AUGUST 2020
Medicine (Los Angeles), Howard University UnitedHealth Group Backs
College of Medicine (Washington, D.C.) and COVID-19, Sickle Cell Risk Study
Meharry Medical College (Nashville).
At MSM, the funds will be used to reduce Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group is
medical school loan debt for Black students putting $600,000 toward a new study with
currently enrolled and receiving student Morehouse School of Medicine to determine
aid. Each student will receive approximately whether carrying the genetic trait that causes
$100,000. sickle cell disease could put a subset of Black
This is the largest scholarship investment Americans at greater risk from COVID-19.
ever received by MSM, as well as the largest Mortality rates due to COVID-19 in the United
aggregate gift to date given to historically States have disproportionately affected Black
Black medical schools from a single source. Americans and other communities of color.
This is the first investment from Bloomberg Herman Taylor, M.D., director of MSM’s
Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative, which Cardiovascular Research Institute, is principal
is named for the Tulsa, Oklahoma, community investigator for the study, which will examine
and historical site of “Black Wall Street” and Hadiyah-Nicole Green, Ph.D. up to 300 adults admitted to Grady Memorial
the Tulsa Massacre of 1921. The Greenwood AUGUST 2020 Hospital in Atlanta. Researchers will screen
Initiative seeks to increase generational wealth Faculty Member Among Alabama’s study participants for the sickle cell trait to
among Black families and address systemic ‘Women of the Century’ determine if a disproportionate number of
underinvestment in Black communities and carriers are sickened by the pandemic virus and
institutions. The USA Today Network recognized Hadi- whether they have different health outcomes
“This historic investment in the Morehouse yah-Nicole Green, Ph.D., assistant professor compared with noncarriers.
School of Medicine will lift the crushing bur- of surgery, as one of Alabama’s “Women of

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