Dismantling Systemic Racism and Advancing Health Equity throughout Research.

The Biden Administration—with its Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, which was released on January 20, 2021—created a timely opportunity to dismantle racism throughout and across a variety of government-funded research infrastructures, including health, biomedical, social, and behavioral research, as well as research focused on the social determinants of health (The White House, 2021). In keeping with the intent of the executive order, all structures and institutions that define who, what, where, why, and how research is conceptualized, funded, and conducted must decenter whiteness and ensure that all scholars and communities have access to funding to conduct research that advances health equity. Only then will research in the U.S. achieve its full future potential in discovery, application, and education. To advance progress toward this goal, the authors of this commentary propose three broad areas for urgent action.