Reynolds discusses clinical import of 2023 NIH decision on disabled people and health disparity

Senior Research Scholar Joel Michael Reynolds (new window) published a new article in JAMA Health Forum, a journal of the American Medical Association. In it, they discuss the larger context as well as the clinical import of the historic decision on September 26th, 2023 by the NIH’s National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to formally designate disabled people a health disparity population. “Health care in the US is at a watershed moment concerning disability,” says Reynolds. “It’s an exciting time for those working to achieve health justice and improve quality and equity of care for disabled patients and, in doing so, improve care for a wide swath of people who experience health disparities.”

Dr. Reynolds joined the KIE in 2020 and the PCCB in 2024. They are author or co-author of over 60 publications spanning philosophy, biomedical ethics, and public health as well as author or co-editor of 6 books. An internationally recognized expert on disability bioethics, Reynolds is also the founding editor of The Journal of Philosophy of Disability and co-founding editor of the book series Oxford Studies in Disability, Ethics, and Society.