Black and Brown in Bioethics is teaming up with Medical Humanities Editor-in-Chief, Dr Brandy Schillace to develop opportunities to create an inclusive and fair publishing system and ensure more perspectives and voices are heard. Matimba is leading a research forum called “Who is a Global Health expert: Reimaging Global Health Futures”. Guest editors also include Harleen and Kumeri. The authors for the research forum will all be early career researchers and we will reserve commentary (the shorter comment pieces) for more seasoned scholars.
About the research forum
There has been an increased awareness in exposing deep-rooted inequalities, biases and racism and a demand to change global health and healthcare systems to be equitable. However, as the economic, social, political, technological and epidemiological landscapes across the world shift and bring new challenges, there is a need to think about how their roles and responsibilities could evolve and contribute to equitable access and outcomes, healthcare systems transformation, technology and innovation, and environmental sustainability. There is a need to re-balance the power dynamics between the Global North and the Global South to maximise lasting health impacts and create equitable and inclusive global health futures for everyone in the next 10 to 30 years. A good place to start changing inequalities in global health research is the decolonisation of academic publishing spaces.
This research forum special issue follows on from the webinar “Bioethics and Global Health: in Search of Common Ground” and will explore the divide – but also the similarities – between the ‘Global North’ and ‘Global South’, and aim to identify areas of learning and convergence that should become the focus of future collaboration and development. In this issue, we will be taking the voices of early career researchers, people of colour and researchers from the global south to make room for publication of communications from diverse primary bodies of knowledge. We will have a series of mini conferences and workshops. We will also develop useful resources that will support the recruitment and engagement of early career researchers and people of colour in future research forums. Sharing these resources will contribute to increasing engagement, representation and diversity in academic publishing.
Listen to the podcast where EIC Brandy Schillace speaks to Matimba Swana and Kumeri Bandara about the Black and Brown in Bioethics program, and working harder to bring ECR scholars into print.