'Racism is a global public health crisis': Author Layal Liverpool says racist ideas still pervade medicine, and that hurts all of us

Racism pervades health care systems across the world, putting patients' health and lives at risk. In "Systemic: How Racism is Making Us Ill" (Bloomsbury Circus, 2024), science journalist Layal Liverpool shows how people of all socioeconomic statuses experience racism in health care, as exemplified by the widely covered story of Serena Williams' complications after childbirth, for instance. The book traces the historical legacy of racial inequities in medicine and reveals disturbing trends that still persist in medical education and research. 

Liverpool worked in biomedical research at the University of Oxford and University College London, specializing in the study of viruses and the immune system before becoming a journalist. 

In "Systemic," she draws from both sides of her expertise to highlight the stories of people who are working to close the pervasive, racialized gaps that persist in Health care, Education and research.

"I really do think there are reasons for hope — for optimism," Liverpool told Live Science. "I think that by recognizing that racism is behind so much unfairness in health, it means we can begin to tackle the problem." 

Live Science spoke with Liverpool about her new book and what she hopes readers will take away from it.

Related: 'As beautiful as pregnancy sounds, it also scares me': Author Layal Liverpool on the reality of racism in reproductive Health care 

Nicoletta Lanese: It seems like representation in the Sciences and Health inequalities were major focuses of your journalism from the start — would you say that's true?