Historically, Black skin has been misrepresented in medical literature, misdiagnosed and most recently, even misrepresented in AI recognition. As a result, patients of color have failed to receive the proper level of care they deserve. Fortunately, companies like CeraVe are taking substantive steps to change that.
The beloved skincare brand CeraVe recently announced the establishment of a fund at Howard University’s Department of Dermatology, to help narrow representation gaps in the field.
“The creation of the fund in partnership with CeraVe allows us to invest in training our academic faculty to conduct clinical research trials, the first step towards building a dermatology clinical trials unit in the only dermatology department at a historically Black university,” said Dr. Ginette Okoye, Chair of Dermatology at Howard University College of Medicine in a news release shared with ESSENCE. “The brand’s vision and support of the department of dermatology at Howard University improves the retention, and ultimately the academic promotion, of faculty from groups underrepresented in medicine, and by extension provides more opportunities for mentorship of UIM students and residents.”
The fund is aimed at helping Howard’s faculty broaden their expertise, namely by conducting culturally competent medical trials with a focus on Black skin.
“Equity within skincare is more than representation in marketing and advertising. It is representation of all people at the root of product development,” said Tom Allison, CeraVe co-founder and Senior Vice President of Global Professional Marketing. “To truly achieve therapeutic skincare for all, people of all skin types and tones must be part of skincare research, and this fund at Howard University is one step towards closing the inequity gap.”