Debasree Banerjee, MD, MS, FCCP, has always been interested in health equity and anti-bias in medicine, but it was the COVID-19 pandemic that compelled her to make it the focus of her career.

“COVID really revealed examples of disparities and outcomes for patients based on multiple social drivers of health, which sometimes can be compartmentalized and ignored to a degree in general clinical practice,” said Dr. Banerjee, a pulmonologist with Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University. “It caused a lot of dissonance with what you're trying to achieve and the reality of the situation—and what the limits of your abilities are in trying to change that.”

This dissonance served as a lightbulb, Dr. Banerjee explained, helping her see her own gaps in knowledge. “We were working hard clinically, but we were not addressing the deeper roots of [what was] happening.”

She began researching the issue, exploring the history of health inequity and how discrimination and racism intersect in politics, economics, housing, education, and health care.

When it came to solutions, the reality was humbling.

“You don’t just come up with a few ideas and fix it,” she said. “I think of it more in terms of having an expansive view, like how to be creative in approaching this problem [and] how to increase education about it so that more people are invested and on board. Then, change can happen.”

Over the years, her career has shifted focus as a result. It’s work that’s quite different from a decade ago, when Dr. Banerjee was the recipient of a CHEST research grant in pulmonary arterial hypertension.

As a trainee, the project connected her with critical care experts around the world, allowing her to build a deep community within the CHEST network.

While she no longer works in translational science, Dr. Banerjee remains deeply involved with CHEST, serving as a member of the Scientific Program Committee, the Health Equity Task Force, and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Work Group for the CHEST^® Journal Editorial Board.

“It’s been really satisfying and exciting to have CHEST support in this progress as I’ve pivoted and then really landed on what I love,” she said.

One of her latest projects is spearheading a continuing education course on cultural humility for CHEST’s First 5 Minutes^® curriculum. The course helps providers identify and address the role interpersonal racism plays in initial patient-provider interactions.

A big challenge was condensing such important and complex material into three 15-minute modules, she said. However, this distilled version serves as an important introduction into the concept.

“It starts the conversation and allows people to have a common vocabulary for dialogue surrounding this,” she said. “Hopefully, people can recognize situations more, because a lot of this happens subconsciously. Without that recognition, then there’s no critical change.”

Dr. Banerjee envisions this effort as the start of many more CHEST-involved projects centered around health equity, and she can’t wait to get going.

“That is my goal and hope. I am all in,” she said. “Every day, I'm like, ‘Oh, this would be a cool idea. What about this? And what about this?’ I would say the limitations are just my time and energy.”