Developing and empowering Black talent
Corinne Buchanan-Russell talks about the responsibility of leaders to foster diversity, and the perils of academic streaming (1,000 words, 5 minutes)
Corinne Buchanan-Russell believes Canada is a country of diversity, but the life sciences industry doesn’t always reflect that. According to the President and Co-founder of Advancing Black Talent in Pharma, certain factors have perpetuated a situation where seeing Black talent in industries such as the pharmaceutical sector is rare despite the diversity of opportunities.
This is why she co-founded Advancing Black Talent in Pharma in December 2021—to empower and advocate for Black talent. “We’ve come together with the express intent of elevating and achieving a sustained representation of Black communities in the Canadian pharmaceutical and life sciences sector,” she said in a recent episode of the NPC Podcast.
Buchanan-Russell [pictured below] said Advancing Black Talent in Pharma operates under three pillars. The first pillar is ‘Develop,’ which she describes as building awareness about the industry and the careers and opportunities that exist within it. The second pillar is ‘Empower,’ which aims to create a community for Black talent in the pharma and life sciences and provide the tools, support, and resources needed to thrive in their careers. The last pillar is ‘Engage,’ which seeks to raise awareness of the barriers and specific challenges Canadian Black talent encounter in the life sciences sector.
During the episode, Buchanan-Russell mentioned that one of the factors that hinders Black talent from reaching their full potential is academic streaming. This process separates high school students into differentiated groups based on their perceived academic ability or prior achievements. “According to the [Ont.] Minister of Education, 53 per cent of black students are streamed out of the academic pathway,” she said. “Streaming out means that you don’t go to university, and if you don’t, you don’t go to professions of higher opportunity.” She added that streaming doesn’t only affect Black Canadians but also Indigenous people.
Buchanan-Russell said that to achieve true inclusion and foster a diverse talent pool, leaders need to recognize and celebrate differences. “Don’t look at everybody and say they’re all the same,” she said. “If your designation is that we look at everybody the same, then you are not doing your best to achieve diversity, equity, and inclusion, or at least to understand the differences. Listen to who your employees are and what they need. Then, move beyond leadership, beyond the performative task of saying yes, we have a DEI mandate, and make it meaningful.”
She also advises young Black talent to continuously evolve and not let their skills and capabilities become obsolete. She suggests looking for employee resource groups to partner young professionals with mentors and leverage groups like Advancing Black Talent in Pharma. “It’s the same techniques that everybody uses, but you need to find those that can understand you,” she said. “Find allies and advocates. I didn’t get to my career progression without an ally and an advocate. It just didn’t happen. I knew I had people in my corner who could see my talent and were willing to support me.”
THIS WEEK 06/11/24
Geron Corporation announced the U.S. has approved imetelstat (Rytelo) for treating adult patients with low- to intermediate-1 risk myelodysplastic syndromes with transfusion-dependent anemia.
Accel Pharma Inc., Mint Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Pharmascience Inc. are recalling several products due to concerns about the integrity of tests that show their generic prescription drugs work in the same manner as brand-name versions.
The U.S. FDA approved eculizumab-aeeb (Bkemv) as an interchangeable biosimilar to Soliris (eculizumab) to treat certain rare diseases such as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome.
AstraZeneca’s supplemental New Drug Application for osimertinib (Tagrisso) has been accepted and granted Priority Review in the U.S. for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable, Stage III epidermal growth factor receptor-mutated non-small cell lung cancer after chemoradiotherapy.
LISTEN UP
In season 12 of the NPC Podcast, Brian Bloom, CEO of Bloom Burton & Co., gives insights into changes in the Canadian Healthcare investment landscape, the return of the generalist investor, and the rise of consumer empowerment in healthcare. Hear him in conversation with podcast hosts Mitch Shannon, Jim Shea, and Mark McElwain.
HEALTHBIZ REWIND
This feature of NPC Healthbiz Weekly looks back at some of the most insightful moments from previous NPC Podcast episodes. In Healthbiz Rewind, you’ll read bold life sci predictions made during the renowned “Prognostication Korner” segment of the NPC Podcast.
Dr. Rachel Asiniwasis
Founder, Dermatologist and Clinician Researcher
Origins Dermatology Centre
Regina
Season 03, episode 07
Listen to this episode here
What are the most significant gaps in medical cultural competence? (This episode was recorded in March, 2021)
I guess my view would be that the general public, including Canadian healthcare practitioners, come from diverse backgrounds and have different levels of understanding. For example, I’ve met people who know a lot about Indigenous health, and I’ve also met people who don’t know much and have asked if my dad has lived in a teepee. Or people who didn’t know that the last residential school only closed in 1996, barely one generation away. My dad also attended [a residential school] for nine years. So, I think it’s hard for me to answer where the gaps are because there’s so much diversity across Canada, but I can say there needs to be accredited learning modules. Some are extremely well done out of the University of Alberta and the University of Saskatchewan that I think could be used. I recommend them to healthcare practitioners. I know that there are a lot of programs, such as nursing and medicine, that do include this, but I think that we need to add Indigenous cultural competency programs to our dermatology residency programs.
NEXT WEEK
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