When healthcare research, biomedical datasets, and diagnostic tools are built predominantly around white, Western populations, what happens to everyone else? In Episode 4, Hani Nasar, Master’s student in Health Data Science at the University of St Andrews, explores the persistent underrepresentation of minority ethnic groups in healthcare research—and the real-world consequences of being left out.
From skewed drug trials and missed diagnoses to AI systems that fail to work effectively for the patients who need them most, this episode asks us to think critically about who healthcare systems have historically chosen to study, whose experiences are missing from the data, and what this means for health equity. Drawing on research from the UK, Australia, and the US, Hani makes the case that we cannot achieve equitable healthcare without first confronting the inequalities embedded in the data and research that underpin it.