By: Hannah Heitz
On January 27, Dr. Benjamin hosted a lunch for undergraduate students to discuss her work, her life, and her future studies. Dr. Benjamin is currently a professor at Princeton University where she teaches classes at the intersection of science, race, and health, including her current course, titled “Black to the Future.” The lunch was intimate, with only thirteen students, and within minutes the group came up with endless questions for her to answer. She described the trajectory that led her work today: undergraduate studies at Spelman College, graduate school at University of California, Berkeley, the birth of her two sons, and her post-doctoral fellowship at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
As the group discussed her work, it was easy to see the importance of her personal narrative and how it created a foundation for what she does today. Her interest in the intersection of race and medicine. developed partly from experiences at Emory. As a senior, she took classes at Emory and went to student health for a check-up regarding her pregnancy. The nurse at the office asked her, “What do you have?”
Dr. Benjamin said, “I don’t have anything. I’m pregnant.”
The nurse, without looking up, replied, “We treat that like any other illness.”
After that interaction, Dr. Benjamin decided on her senior year thesis, which focused on the medicalization of childbirth. She soon expanded her work to consider the medicalization of many other human conditions. For example, she described her work with ADHD, which discusses the current epidemic of ADHD. The rise in rates of ADHD is not due to a vast genetic shift so instead we should be asking what in the environment has shifted. The answer to that question is clear as children are increasingly surrounded by stimulating technology no matter where they are.
A student asked about her study of stem cell research. She responded by describing her analysis of two narratives behind the controversial research in California. The first narrative is based in scientific progress, policy, and federal level restrictions. The second narrative comes from patient advocates among California’s affluent citizens, which presents the policy of state funding of the research as a way of defying President Bush. Dr. Benjamin emphasized the importance of holistic context for understanding science, technology, and the future of research.
The hour-long lunch flew by, but Dr. Benjamin left the group thinking about the importance of looking beyond the problems and instead focusing on alternatives and thinking creatively. She encouraged us to change the discussion regarding what needs to be solved: old, white men are those making the decisions about what takes priority in research, but that will not solve the greatest health issues we face today for those who lack even basic care. Her future work will look at new initiatives to make science more participatory, such as current genomics studies in South Africa that will create a new sort of dynamic “slow science” (she compared this to the concept of “slow food”) where all groups, races, and classes are equally represented.
For more information: http://www.ruhabenjamin.com/
Dr. Benjamin said, “I don’t have anything. I’m pregnant.”
The nurse, without looking up, replied, “We treat that like any other illness.”
After that interaction, Dr. Benjamin decided on her senior year thesis, which focused on the medicalization of childbirth. She soon expanded her work to consider the medicalization of many other human conditions. For example, she described her work with ADHD, which discusses the current epidemic of ADHD. The rise in rates of ADHD is not due to a vast genetic shift so instead we should be asking what in the environment has shifted. The answer to that question is clear as children are increasingly surrounded by stimulating technology no matter where they are.
A student asked about her study of stem cell research. She responded by describing her analysis of two narratives behind the controversial research in California. The first narrative is based in scientific progress, policy, and federal level restrictions. The second narrative comes from patient advocates among California’s affluent citizens, which presents the policy of state funding of the research as a way of defying President Bush. Dr. Benjamin emphasized the importance of holistic context for understanding science, technology, and the future of research.
The hour-long lunch flew by, but Dr. Benjamin left the group thinking about the importance of looking beyond the problems and instead focusing on alternatives and thinking creatively. She encouraged us to change the discussion regarding what needs to be solved: old, white men are those making the decisions about what takes priority in research, but that will not solve the greatest health issues we face today for those who lack even basic care. Her future work will look at new initiatives to make science more participatory, such as current genomics studies in South Africa that will create a new sort of dynamic “slow science” (she compared this to the concept of “slow food”) where all groups, races, and classes are equally represented.
For more information: http://www.ruhabenjamin.com/
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