Structural Equity and Educational Transformation: Dismantling Systemic Racism in Public Health through Intersectionality

Despite significant advancements in medical technology and public health infrastructure, systemic racism remains a fundamental determinant of health, manifesting in profound disparities for Black populations globally. To address these inequities, it is no longer sufficient to focus solely on clinical interventions; we must shift our gaze toward the structural foundations of healthcare delivery and the educational frameworks that shape the next generation of practitioners. This includes not only policy reform but also the transformation of epistemological, pedagogical, and institutional practices that sustain inequities across health systems and health professions education.This Research Topic explores the critical intersection between structural policy changes and educational reform within the public health sector. We aim to highlight how proactive, affirmative policies—such as targeted recruitment, equity-based funding models, and the implementation of quotas in public health education—can act as catalysts for systemic change. When combined with rigorous anti-racism education, these policies have the potential to dismantle the institutional barriers that have historically marginalized Black communities. In addition, this collection seeks to examine how educational practices (particularly those grounded in critical, dialogical, and experiential approaches), can foster transformative learning processes capable of reshaping professional practices and institutional cultures.A primary lens of this collection is intersectionality. We place a specific focus on the lived experiences and health outcomes of Black women, who navigate the compounding effects of systemic racism and gender bias. We also explicitly consider how multiple, overlapping systems of oppression—such as gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic position, and other axes of inequality—interact with racism to shape health outcomes, access to care, and experiences within health systems. Beyond descriptive analyses, we encourage contributions that operationalize intersectionality as an analytical and methodological tool to inform policy design, healthcare practices, and educational interventions.Suitable topics for manuscripts include, but are not limited to:• Workforce Diversity & Anti-Racist Education: Evaluations of affirmative policies, medical school quotas, and targeted recruitment on Public Health workforce diversification, alongside longitudinal studies on anti-racism training, curriculum redesign, and experiential or competency-based learning that reduce provider bias and transform clinical practice across health professions education.• Structural Policy & Equity-Based Funding: Analysis of how redistributing public health resources through social vulnerability indices, housing stability programs, income support, and nutritional equity initiatives impacts health equity in Black communities — connecting macro-level policy reform with micro-level changes in care practices and lived experiences.• Black Women's Health: Research into systemic drivers of health inequities affecting Black women and the effectiveness of community-based interventions. Studies should examine policy shifts needed to address social determinants, with examples including maternal health, chronic disease, mental health, and reproductive justice.• Community Power & Participatory Approaches: Analyses of Black-led grassroots organizations in shaping public health policy and holding institutions accountable, including co-production of knowledge and participatory methodologies that challenge traditional hierarchies and meaningfully involve communities in the design, implementation, and evaluation of health interventions.• Data Justice & Global Perspectives: Examination of how disaggregated racial and gender data can drive more precise and equitable interventions, paired with comparative or multi-country studies — particularly from the Global South — on how different sociopolitical contexts shape responses to systemic racism in health systems. Topic editors: DÉBORA DE SOUZA SANTOS, Maira L S Takemoto, Fernanda Garanhani De Castro Surita, Bruno Pereira da Silva, Roberto Ariel Abeldaño Zuñiga, Chyrell Bellamy Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80902/structural-equity-and-educational-transformation-dismantling-systemic-racism-in-public-health-through-intersectionality