Is Science Colour Blind?

Can science ever be unprejudiced? How inclusive could science be? Is it the attitudes of scientists to their research, or attitudes to science that complicate the picture? What about science in the field of healthcare? Have your say...

Firstly, we hear from those directly involved. George Ellison comments on the importance of race and ethnicity in science. Abi Ajose-Adeogun comments on her past experience as a biochemist and suggests why there aren't more black scientists today.

Suman Fernando lifts the lid on the institutions of mental healthcare. What challenges arise within this field? And how does this impact on ethnic minorities with the advent of a Mental Health Bill in which it becomes legal for people to be detained?

Richard Tutton looks at the inclusion process of science in the area of clinical trials. How and why are ethnic minority communities not participating in clinical trials, and does this have on healthcare?

Finally Pilar Ossorio talks about her work on scientists' perceptions of race in the process of their research, as a geneticist and a lawyer.

This event is part of Black History Month 2007.

videos

Missed the event? Watch the videos below to get a feel for what went on. Clips feature an introduction to the event, speaker contributions on the night and what the audience thought.

Speakers

Abi Ajose-Adeogun, biochemist, Cancer Research UK
George Ellison, Professor of Health Sciences, Kingston University
Suman Fernando, Hon. senior lecturer in Mental Health, European Centre for Migration and Social Care
Pilar Ossorio, Associate Professor of Law and Medical Ethics, University of Wisconsin
Richard Tutton, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Centre for the Economic and Social Impact of Genomics

Facilitator: Elizabeth Anionwu, Emeritus Professor of Nursing, Thames Valley University