Health policy researchers are in the midst of what may be the greatest shift in the way they view population health research since we began using race/ethnicity data to identify disparities. In 1985, Secretary of Health and Human Services Heckler’s landmark report on Black and minority health uncovered the appalling degree to which outcomes can vary by race/ethnicity: life expectancy among Black individuals was nearly 6 years less than that of white individuals, and infant mortality for Black individuals was nearly double. 

But, in the 35 years since that landmark report, researchers are only now reckoning with how disparities research has failed to achieve equity and has even contributed to the preservation of systemic racism. While we have not nearly addressed the structural changes needed to eliminate racial/ethnic health disparities, Ninez Ponce shares how researchers have made some strides in population health data collection and the critical need to center equity in population surveys to eliminate health inequities.