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Editor's Note
November 13, 2020

Reporting Genetic Markers and the Social Determinants of Health in Clinical Cardiovascular ResearchIt Is Time to Recalibrate the Use of Race

Author Affiliations
  • 1Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
  • 2Deputy Editor, JAMA Cardiology
  • 3Associate Editor for Translational Science, JAMA Cardiology
JAMA Cardiol. 2021;6(4):400. doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2020.6576

The editors of JAMA Cardiology have accepted as an editorial priority the more detailed and informative assessment of cardiovascular disease as a function of race. We envision the work of Rao et al1 and the exemplary commentary of Powell-Wiley2 as important levers to incite a more sophisticated and in turn more effective use of race in cardiovascular medicine. We concur with Powell-Wiley2; race is a social construct. We dismiss any biological inferences that support the use of race, while we also recognize the importance of genetic ancestry. Given these considerations, it is time for a recalibrated use of race in cardiovascular research. Herewith, we offer a new model.

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