Leveraging Trust to Advance Science, Engineering, and Medicine in the Black Community: Proceedings of a Workshop (2025)
Chapter: 10 Closing Reflections
10
Closing Reflections
At the close of the workshop, planning committee co-chair Cedric Bright, M.D. (East Carolina University), thanked presenters, participants, and fellow Roundtable members for an educational and inspirational session. He asked for closing thoughts from Roundtable member Louis Sullivan, M.D. (Sullivan Alliance), and Roundtable chair Cato Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D. (University of Connecticut). He also expressed the hope that participants’ own take-home messages do not remain within an echo chamber but that they share their knowledge with others.
REMARKS FROM DR. LOUIS SULLIVAN
In commending participants, Dr. Sullivan commented on how much he learned over the course of the workshop. He shared his view that the nation is in crisis because of a loss of trust in many institutions, including the courts, higher education, and the political system. He noted that the faith community provides an opportunity to believe in each other and work toward a more perfect union.
Among the things that must be done is to improve the health of all citizens, especially those who are poor and who are minorities, he said. Moreover, in improving the health of those groups, the health of all Americans will improve. Trust in physicians has eroded, he pointed out. This trust must be rebuilt because it interferes with what is needed to improve health. “What we need to do is to work with colleagues in the
Black Church to address health, educational, and other issues and build out from there,” he said. “What we have heard have been good examples of how that can work.”
He concluded, “We need to get to work to build a better community for everyone. A more perfect union is possible, but all must be active in making that happen.” He thanked all those working on climate change, health behaviors, service delivery, education, and other areas. “We can have a brighter future if we implement what we have talked about,” he stated.
REMARKS FROM DR. CATO LAURENCIN
Dr. Laurencin reflected on the workshop agenda and the main themes in each. All of these powerful sessions with powerful and dedicated people have shared great work and ideas, he said.
He added, “One of the things the Roundtable tries to do is to not be a ‘talk shop’ but a workshop. We will be working with people around the table to implement some of the things we have talked about. The Black Church is still the bulwark of our community, and we as Black physicians must interact more with them to build trust. Black physicians have trust in the community, and that is why we need more Black physicians.”
