Michelson Medical Research Foundation Panel at UNCF UNITE Summit: Experts Call for Greater Investment in HBCU Research to Advance Health Equity
The Path to R1 Status: Closing the Equity Gap in Research Funding panelists (from left):Dr. Erika Johnson, Chinwe Ohanele Agwu, Dr. Muhsinah Morris, and Dr. Barney Graham.
The UNCF UNITE Summit for Black Higher Education, held last month in Atlanta, was the epicenter of discussions on the future of education and research at historically Black institutions. The summit promotes accelerating strategies for Black higher education and support for the institutional transformation of Black colleges and universities. Prominent academic leaders and experts gathered to tackle the pressing issues facing Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
Watch the Full Panel Discussion
The summit featured a panel hosted by the Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property (MIIP) and Michelson Medical Research Foundation (MMRF). The discussion, moderated by Chinwe Ohanele Agwu, Senior Program Manager at MIIP, focused on biomedical research at HBCUs, funding obstacles, the power of intellectual property education, and empowering Black researchers. The panel explored how strategic support could level the playing field in research and technology transfer at HBCUs.
The session, titled "The Path to R1 Status: Closing the Equity Gap in Research Funding," brought together esteemed researchers Dr. Barney Graham and Dr. Erika Johnson from Morehouse School of Medicine, and Dr. Muhsinah Morris from Morehouse College. The discussion centered on the critical research rankings that influence funding allocations for higher education institutions. Alarmingly, no HBCU currently holds the prestigious R1 status, a gap that severely restricts the potential for groundbreaking medical research at these institutions. As Agwu highlighted, the disparity in patent awards is stark: the entire HBCU system has secured around 400 patents, while the University of California system boasts over 12,000.
Dr. Muhsinah Morris, Dr. Erika Johnson, and Dr. Barney Graham.
For the panelists, addressing this imbalance is not just a matter of equity—it’s a necessity for achieving health equity. Dr. Morris emphasized the importance of community-focused research, noting, "We do research that matters to our communities, the research that always falls through the gaps. Drugs and pharmaceuticals need to evolve in our communities and be tailored to us."
Despite the innovative research occurring at HBCUs, Dr. Morris highlighted the challenges in gaining recognition, with much of this work going unpublished. She called for a coalition to support and showcase this cutting-edge research.
Dr. Johnson underscored the unique perspective that HBCU researchers bring to addressing health disparities. She cited Morehouse School of Medicine's pediatric COVID trials, which achieved 100% enrollment of underrepresented minorities, as a testament to this distinct approach. The panelists agreed that health equity is deeply intertwined with diversity in the medical workforce and leadership. Dr. Graham warned that without such diversity, "you won’t have enough diversity of judgment to make the kind of decisions you need to make."
The discussion also delved into the numerous challenges facing HBCU researchers, including burnout, high workloads, and insufficient funding, which contribute to a high student turnover rate. These obstacles often leave professors at HBCUs to shoulder the burdens without support systems that their counterparts at larger institutions benefit from.
Dr. Morris described this situation as a "lack of humanity" in some smaller academic institutions, where the absence of mentorship infrastructure hampers the nurturing of student talent. Dr. Graham echoed this sentiment, reflecting on his career at Vanderbilt as an R1 and NIH funded researcher, followed by his 21-year career at the NIH with an annual budget of $200 million that supported 600 researchers, cutting-edge equipment, and dedicated grant departments.
Dr. Graham’s goal is to bring this sort of funding to Morehouse. While the talent is there, larger endowments will be needed to not only improve research, but to ease the administrative burden and lessen the financial debts that prevent many students from pursuing their research goals in the first place.
You can watch the full discussion below:
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