Dr. Heliana Ramirez, a researcher of racial and LGBTQ related workplace trauma, created the Black Women Toxic Job Survivor Suicide Prevention Resource Guide following the tragic death of Dr. Antoinette Candia-Bailey following workplace bullying. Ramirez spoke with POCIT about Candia-Bailey’s life and legacy, creating the guide, and strategies for Black women experiencing workplace bullying. Remembering Dr. Candia-Bailey Candia-Bailey experienced severe workplace abuse from her supervisor when she worked as Vice President of Student Affairs at Lincoln University Oakland, leading to her suicide in January 2024. Concerned about Candia-Bailey’s anxiety and
Mae Health Inc., a pioneering startup focusing on minority health, has closed an oversubscribed seed funding round led by Jumpstart Nova. This investment will enable Mae to expand its tech-enabled services and tackle the significant disparities in Black maternal health outcomes. The funding round saw contributions from a variety of investors, including the Astia Fund, Impact Engine, Joyance Partners, and Gratitude Railroad, alongside early backers like RH Capital and Bright Ventures. Tech-Enabled Solutions for Maternal Health In response to the maternal mortality rates and the prevalence of maternity care deserts,
Acclinate, a Birmingham, Alabama-based healthcare technology company, has completed a $7 million Series A funding round. The funding round, led by Cencora Ventures and supported by Labcorp and Latimer Ventures, aimed to enhance Acclinate’s efforts to promote health equity and transform the inclusivity of clinical trials. Transforming Clinical Trials through Trust and Technology Acclinate’s strategy aims to build trust and foster long-term relationships with diverse communities. Their digital platform, NOWINCLUDED, is designed to educate and engage underrepresented groups in clinical trials, ensuring their inclusion in medical research. The platform serves as an educational tool while
Ovom Care, a pioneering German startup in the fertility sector, recently closed €4.8 million ($5.1 million) in seed funding to expand its services across Europe, according to Tech Funding News. Led by an all-female founding team, Ovom Care is at the forefront of integrating empathetic reproductive healthcare by using a combination of generative AI and computer vision. This investment round, led by Alpha Intelligence Capital and supported by Ananda Impact Ventures and Merantix, makes the company’s total funding €6.1 million ($6.5 million). The startup is set to open its first clinic in Portugal by late 2024,
People of color are more likely to work irregular and prolonged hours, contributing to long-term health issues, according to a new study by Wen-Jui Han, a professor at NYU Silver School of Social Work. Even among Black professionals and other minorities in office jobs, Han tells Fortune, there’s a pressure to work longer hours to succeed. Long, irregular work hours Han’s study utilized data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, which tracked over 7,000 U.S. workers from age 22 to 50. She found that employees, especially people of color,
Brand new Techish! This week, host Michael continues his conversation with former Radio 1Xtra DJ Reece Parkinson. Listen on Spotify or Apple podcast also. Watch On YouTube: Missed part one of Michael’s chat with Reece? Catch up here.
Digital health startup Acclinate has partnered with Quilt.AI to enhance its Black maternal health initiatives through AI and cultural understanding. Increasing Culturally Competent Healthcare Professionals Black women in the U.S. are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women. Acclinate is a digital health startup focused on improving health equity through technology and community engagement, particularly within communities of color. Thanks to Acclinate’s NOWINCLUDED community platform, significant strides have been made in understanding the healthcare needs of Black mothers over the past year. Data from the Mommy Listening
In the US, African American women face higher mortality rates from major diseases like heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes compared to other demographics. These disparities are often due to systemic biases in healthcare, which can diminish or underestimate the pain and symptoms experienced by these women. The Promise of Predictive Healthcare in Personalized Medicine Predictive healthcare, however, marks an evolution in medical treatment, moving away from a generalized approach to a more individualized strategy. This approach uses advanced predictive analytics, which allows healthcare providers to identify potential health risks early and
Research has shown that Black adults experience higher rates of sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, insomnia, and irregular sleep patterns, more frequently than other demographic groups. Dr. Ivor Horn, Google’s Chief Health Equity Officer, is at the forefront of addressing these health disparities using AI. Her role mainly involves bridging healthcare gaps by using technology to enhance healthcare equity, particularly for marginalized communities. Sleep Disorders With Black People Factors contributing to less sleep among Black individuals include location, environmental noise, light pollution, and broader socio-economic issues such as stress and racial discrimination.
Integrating AI in mammography offers a new era in breast cancer detection. However, there are concerns for people of color. The technology, which is becoming increasingly accessible, has the potential to enhance early detection rates beyond the current 87% achieved by traditional mammograms, as reported by The New York Times. AI algorithms are not working at identifying subtle signs of cancer that conventional methods may miss, thereby reducing false positives and unnecessary treatments. The Concerns For People Of Color Despite these advancements, the adoption of AI-enhanced mammography faces significant hurdles. One
