The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco and The 15 White Coats have announced initiatives offering travel grants and genomic training to aspiring physicians from underrepresented groups. This collaboration aims to diversify health care and provide world-class training in cutting-edge genomic techniques.
The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco (CZ Biohub SF) and The 15 White Coats have teamed up to launch new initiatives that offer travel grants and metagenomic sequencing coursework to aspiring physicians from underrepresented backgrounds. The goal of these initiatives is to diversify the health care workforce and provide world-class training in genomic techniques.
These new initiatives are a result of the efforts by CZ Biohub SF’s Rapid Response Team. This team is known for offering training and tools essential for building sustainable scientific relationships globally, with a special focus on genomic sequencing for pathogen detection and discovery.
The 15 White Coats, a nonprofit organization led by Black physicians in New Orleans, is dedicated to supporting the next generation of diverse health care professionals through inspiration and economic assistance.
“We’re grateful to the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub for not only seeing our vision but for recognizing the power in this partnership,” Russell J. Ledet, co-founder and chairman of The 15 White Coats, said in a news release. “By joining forces, we’re creating real opportunities for aspiring doctors from underrepresented communities to gain access to world-class training and cutting-edge genomic techniques. The impact of this collaboration will be felt for generations.”
As part of the new initiatives, nine undergraduate students supported by The 15 White Coats will receive travel grants to attend the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) annual meeting, scheduled for Nov. 13-17 in New Orleans. Founded in 1903, ASTMH is the largest global scientific organization focused on reducing tropical infectious diseases and improving global health.
Linnie Golightly, president of ASTMH, expressed enthusiasm for the collaboration.
“Our partnership with The 15 White Coats and Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco reflects our joint belief that biomedical educational pathways must include the knowledge necessary to serve both our local and global communities,” she said in the news release. “We are delighted to have this opportunity to engage this cohort of students and set a firm foundation for their understanding of the intersection of global and local health…”
Looking ahead, the CZ Biohub SF’s Rapid Response Team plans to offer a live-streamed course in the spring of 2025. This course, designed for a cohort of 15 White Coats students, will cover metagenomic sequencing and other genomic techniques for detecting and diagnosing infectious diseases, including genomic surveillance and tracking to manage outbreaks of emerging pathogens.
Cristina M. Tato, senior director of the Rapid Response Team, highlighted the significance of this partnership.
“We are extremely happy to partner with academic institutions and organizations like The 15 White Coats to support increased diversity of the U.S. STEM student population and to provide them with an opportunity to explore applications in science and medicine that reach beyond the bench or clinic,” she said.