Bessie Young receives Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility Paul Beeson Award

The Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility Paul Beeson Award honors activists in the healthcare field who have made a substantial contribution to peace, justice, and health in Washington state.

Dr. Bessie Young is the Vice Dean for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the UW Medicine Office of Health Care Equity, the Medical Director of the Office of Health Care Equity at UW Medicine, and Director of the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Center for Transformational Research at the University of Washington.

Young has a long history of working with underserved communities, issues of health equity, and research on the social determinants of health.

For over 20 years, she has used her expertise in epidemiology to uncover why some groups of people develop diseases more than others — specifically why conditions like diabetes and kidney disease disproportionally affect African Americans.