The American Thoracic Society Shells Out Discriminatory ‘Diversity’ Grant

Modern medicine is overflowing with grants doled out on the basis of race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation as medical schools and societies embrace radical DEI ideology. The American Thoracic Society (ATS) is no exception.

The “ATS Diversity Grant” is a $40,000 opportunity geared toward investigative researchers who are focused on either “basic science, translational, or clinical research in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine.” But here is the catch: the grant opportunity is available only to individuals from “underrepresented groups.”

The ATS goes on to explain that it uses the NIH’s definition of underrepresented populations: “Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders.” Under that criteria, whites and Asians are out of luck.

Early-stage investigators are researchers who have begun their careers relatively recently; the grant is open to investigators working “in basic science, translational, or clinical research in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine.”

Discriminating among applicants on the basis of any sort of “underrepresented” status is not in line with a commitment to scientific excellence. And emphasizing race and other arbitrary criteria over skills and expertise inevitably leads to worse outcomes for medicine and science alike.

But perhaps this is not altogether surprising, given that the ATS has had a standing “Health Equity and Diversity Committee”, a written policy on “Diversity and Inclusion”, and various pieces embracing DEI, such as one piece entitled “Creating a Fairer, More Equitable Future for the Global Respiratory Community.” Indeed, ATS President Irina Petrache proudly tweeted earlier this year about the “Diversity Forum” at the ATS 2024 conference.

Additionally, the ATS grant is yet another discriminatory funding opportunity that makes reference to the NIH’s racialized language.

Earlier this year, Do No Harm reported how a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-backed grant blatantly discriminated in a similar fashion for its Enhancing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Educational Diversity (ESTEEMED) grant program.

Moreover, Do No Harm previously uncovered various fellowship and research awards through the Thoracic Surgery Foundation that discriminated on the basis of race and gender.

Discrimination should have no place in medicine. Arbitrarily excluding certain groups from grant opportunities because they don’t meet racial criteria is exclusionary, unfair, and runs contrary to advancing scientific progress.

The sooner these types of grant practices are phased out, the better for grant applicants and the entire medical community alike.