A Path Toward Equity: ASCP Presents DE&I Initiative to CDC

In September, ASCP participated in the Clinical Laboratory Partners Forum fall meeting hosted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the laboratory’s role in advancing health equity.

ASCP gave a presentation focusing on the Society’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) strategic pillars and showcased a sample of the work done to date. The DE&I plan’s five pillars are: building awareness of pathology and laboratory medicine as career opportunities; establishing partnerships with programs and other associations to promote and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion; creating mentorship opportunities to provide support, learning, and development; developing educational content and training solutions, and redesigning processes to ensure lasting change and sustainability.

To date, ASCP has done the following advocacy efforts:

- Worked with the National Kidney Foundation to support eGFR calculations that do not rely upon race adjustment factors to diagnose and treat Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).

- Collaborated with ASH to remove an exclusionary laboratory test reference range affecting black and brown people and the establishment of a new name – Duffy Null Associated Neutrophil Count.

- Worked with the Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies (AABB) and other experts in the blood banking/transfusion community to begin work on the development of a nationwide red blood cell (RBC) alloantibody registry and data exchange.