Michelle van Ryn

Van Ryn joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota. She was based in the Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research, where she investigated disparities in healthcare.^[2][3] She spent thirteen years in Minnesota before moving to the Mayo Clinic.^[4] She served as Professor of Health Services Research at the Mayo, where she led a program on Equity and Inclusion in healthcare. In 201,7 van Ryn moved to Oregon Health & Science University as the Grace Phelps Distinguished Professor.^[5]

Van Ryn studied how physicians' perceptions about patients are impacted by ethnicity and socioeconomic status, and how this impacts the quality of care patients receive.^[6][7] Her research showed that physicians' perceptions were influenced by the socio-demographics of their patients, and that they perceived African-Americans more negatively than white patients.^[6] She also showed that physicians' perceptions of LGBT patients was shaped by their interaction with LGBT people during medical school.^[8]

Van Ryn founded Diversity Science, an organization that looked to accelerate equity and inclusion through evidenced-based approaches.^[9] The organization create training programs and policy documents that promote equity in healthcare, which have been deployed in California, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota and Washington.^[5][10][11] In New York City, Black women are 12 times more likely to die during childcare than their white counterparts.^[12] She worked with the California Health Care Foundation to develop an e-learning course to challenge bias in maternity care.^[13]

• M van Ryn; J Burke (1 March 2000). "The effect of patient race and socio-economic status on physicians' perceptions of patients". Social Science & Medicine. 50 (6): 813–828. doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00338-X. ISSN 0277-9536. PMID 10695979. Wikidata Q56688987.
• S M Phelan; D J Burgess; M W Yeazel; W L Hellerstedt; J M Griffin; M van Ryn (5 March 2015). "Impact of weight bias and stigma on quality of care and outcomes for patients with obesity". Obesity Reviews. 16 (4): 319–326. doi:10.1111/OBR.12266. ISSN 1467-7881. PMC 4381543. PMID 25752756. Wikidata Q34466304.
• Michelle van Ryn; Steven S Fu (1 February 2003). "Paved with good intentions: do public health and human service providers contribute to racial/ethnic disparities in health?". American Journal of Public Health. 93 (2): 248–255. doi:10.2105/AJPH.93.2.248. ISSN 1541-0048. PMC 1447725. PMID 12554578. Wikidata Q78850450.