Speaker
Description
Concepts that are culturally-defined such as "race", "ethnicity", and "ancestry" are often controversial and ambiguous, creating challenges for scientific research. Although these terms may have different meanings and connotations based on cultural, socio-political, and scientific frames of reference, there is a need for harmonization of their definitions and use in biomedical research and clinical genomics. Analyses presented here show vast heterogeneity in the way that populations or groups of people are described in a clinical genomics setting. Discussion includes potential solutions to the problem of describing people in terms of 'populations' in ways that are ethically responsible and scientifically relevant for research and clinical applications.
