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| Farah Dadabhoy, MD, MSc | Nellie Darling, MD, MS | Jossie Carreras Tartak, MD, MBA |
Patricia Hernandez, MD | Erica Nelson, MD, MPhil, MS |
Five Brigham physicians received Spark Grants from the Emergency Department’s Office of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Social Justice (IDEaS) to support research projects and initiatives that increase diversity, fund health education and improve access to care. These $10,000 grants seeks to “spark” the collective creative minds in the department to innovate in the areas of diversity, equity and social justice.
The Diversity and Inclusion Spark Grant recognizes and funds internal-facing efforts that foster and maintain diversity in the workplace. These include novel efforts to recruit, retain, support and educate faculty and staff at the Brigham.
Farah Z. Dadabhoy, MD, MSc, of the Department of Emergency Medicine, received this grant for her project “Writing in Color,” which aims to create a shared sense of community and healing for professionals of color who seek to write about current events, personal reflections or patient encounters. This course serves as a powerful tool to amplify stories that have historically been silenced, encouraging health care providers to engage with narratives that resonate and challenge them within a safe space. The goal is to broaden the landscape of authors by focusing on teaching people of color who may need writing support and community.
In response to a growing need, the program has expanded beyond medicine. Writing in Color is collaborating with local schools in Boston to extend the benefits of the program to wider communities.
Collaborators: Adaira Landry, MD, and Catalina González Marqués, MD, MPH
The Health Equity Spark Grant supports research proposals that are patient-facing and designed to promote equitable care in the Brigham community. Health equity is the belief that everyone, regardless of race, gender, age, disability and culture, deserves the opportunity to be as healthy as possible.
Nellie Darling, MD, MS, of the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency (HAEMR) Program, won this award for her project “Improving Health Equity across Emergency Medicine and Orthopedic Training,” which is designed to provide training for health care providers who may not fit the default body type to be able to safely support their patients. Many reduction and casting techniques have been developed for providers possessing specific physical attributes, such as significant upper-body strength, a high center of gravity and larger hands. As a result, the perception of orthopaedics as physically demanding has deterred women from pursuing the field. This initiative seeks to ensure that Emergency Medicine providers who identify as women or have differently abled body types can learn the necessary techniques and feel empowered to successfully conduct orthopaedic maneuvers.
Collaborators: Regan Marsh, MD, Michael Wilson, MD, PhD, Valerie Dobiesz, MD, Andrew Eyre, MD, and Derek Monette, MD
The Social Justice Spark Grant is awarded to initiatives that promote fair and equitable access and social rights for underrepresented and underserved people in the community. While health care is a part of social justice, it encompasses community efforts through a lens of economic, civil and social reform.
Jossie A. Carreras Tartak, MD, MBA, of Emergency Medicine, and Patricia Hernandez, MD, of the HAEMR Program, were selected for this award for “Project Legacy,” a youth leadership initiative that seeks to provide intentional space for local high school students to feel safe, vulnerable, seen and heard while simultaneously providing education around mental health topics. Focusing primarily on students of color, the program encompasses educational workshops held twice weekly over six months. Furthermore, monthly physician-led sessions will provide education on mental illness.
Collaborators: Taneyri De Jesus, DaMarcus Baymon, MD, and Andrew Marshall, MD
Erica Nelson, MD, MPhil, MS, of Emergency Medicine, was selected for the Creating an Enabling and Empowering Environment for Women in Leadership: Triple E Leadership Pilot Program.
This six-month lecture series, also known as the Triple E Spark Grant, seeks to empower female health care professionals, facilitate their engagement, enhance communication skills and ultimately improve patient care. The program aims to use both a “bottom-up” and “top-down” approach to building and sustaining an empowering environment for women in their professional advancement.
Collaborators: Neha Ahmad, MD, Giovanni Rodriguez, MD, MS, Katherine Mayes, PhD, Phuong Pham, PhD, MPH, and Lindsay Walsh, Resident Collaborators; Adaira Landry, MD, MEd, and Catalina González Marqués, MD, MPH
