Genentech’s latest round of its Health Equity and Diversity in STEM Innovation Fund garnered so many applicants that the pharma decided to raise the investment from $12 million to $17 million—a 40% increase that allowed a total of 31 grants to be awarded.
The Health Equity and Diversity in STEM Innovation Fund falls under the umbrella of Genentech’s larger D&I pillars and 2025 commitments. For those keeping score at home, that brings Genentech’s total equity-focused giving since 2017 to nearly $200 million.
The fund’s goal is to attack the problem of health inequity at its core—systemic racism in healthcare and education. The grantees are research teams lead primarily (94%) by people of color working on community-centered plans to foster overall change in alleviating these inequities.
“The innovation fund reflects our real recognition and belief that in order to truly advance health equity to tackle the unequal outcomes that we see in care and patient outcomes, we have to really look square on at the deep role that racism plays. That is the root cause, and repeating the same approaches that we have used historically is not going to drive change,” Kristin Campbell Reed, executive director, Genentech Foundation and head of Genentech citizenship and engagement, said in an interview with Fierce Pharma Marketing.
The grants also focus on areas not usually seen; for example, there are four different projects focusing on improving health equity for Native Americans. The projects are run by and work with people in tribal communities to bring greater care, education and pathways to careers in STEM to these often neglected areas and groups.
Another somewhat unique approach, which came from feedback from the previous funds, is the engagement with community colleges often passed over in favor of more well-known four-year institutions.
“Often community colleges are the starting point for students of color, low-income students, first generation, and they face tremendous additional barriers because they're coming from community colleges," Campbell Reed explained. "And that's due to structural challenges, and I think the lack of resourcing that community colleges often see. We deliberately designed a focus to say we really want to lean into that vital and highly impactful space in a really focused way.”
Another response to feedback and suggestion is to build in community as support so grantees can work together. Campbell Reed said that many of the past recipients reported on how exhausting and isolating the work can be, so there was a deliberate focus this time to ensure cross-collaboration.
The future of the Health Equity and Diversity in STEM Innovation Fund is strong, but not static. Campbell Reed said the giving of grants to increase diversity, equity and inclusion won't change.
“The details I hope will continue to evolve, because that shows that we're making progress,” she said.