The Journal of infectious diseases
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Diversity drives excellence. Diversity enhances innovation in biomedical sciences and, as it relates to novel findings and treatment of diverse populations, in the field of infectious diseases. ⋯ Here we present the challenges, opportunities, and suggestions for the field, institutions, and individuals to adopt in mitigating bias and achieving greater levels of equity, representation, and excellence in clinical practice and research. Our findings provide optimism for a bright future of fair and collaborative approaches that will enhance the power of our biomedical workforce.
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The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has grown and evolved considerably since its foundation in 1963 as an academic professional society. It currently has >11 000 members, both domestic and international, drawn from the breadth of infectious diseases practice, from basic research to public health. ⋯ It has also reformed the methods by which future IDSA leaders are identified and given roles. These changes should increase the opportunities for all members of the Society to participate in its volunteer leadership.
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In medicine, a wide array of evidence demonstrates the presence of gender, racial, ethnic, and other disparities in representation, compensation, and career development. These disparities also exist in the field of infectious diseases, providing important opportunities for the Infectious Diseases Society of America to identify and report its successes in and challenges to achieving equity. In this article, we review the literature documenting challenges with equity broadly in medicine and specifically in infectious diseases. We then introduce the Be Ethical Campaign, an initiative that encourages healthcare leaders to use metrics and data analysis to identify workforce equity gaps and pursue opportunities to close them.
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While the 2015-2016 Zika epidemics prompted accelerated vaccine development, decision makers need to know the potential economic value of vaccination strategies. ⋯ When considering transmission, while vaccinating everyone naturally averted the most cases, specifically targeting women of childbearing age or young adults was the most cost-effective.