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The fourth annual summer research summit organized by the Center of Excellence (COE) in Health Equity, Training and Research, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) was held on May 20, 2021. The theme of this year’s summit was ‘Strengthening Our Commitment to Racial and Social Justice to Improve Public Health.’ Given the ongoing pandemic, the summit was conducted virtually through digital platforms. This program was intended for both BCM and external audiences interested in advancing health equity, diversity and inclusion in healthcare among healthcare providers and trainees, biomedical scientists, social workers, nurses, individuals involved in talent acquisition and development such as hiring managers (HR professionals), supervisors, college and hospital affiliate leadership and administrators, as well as diversity and inclusion excellence practitioners. We had attendees from all regions of the United States, India, Pakistan and the Demographic Republic of the Congo. The content in this Book of Abstracts encapsulates a summary of the research efforts by the BCM COE scholars (which includes post-baccalaureate students, medical students, clinical fellows and junior faculty from BCM) as well as the external summit participants. The range of topics in this year’s summit was quite diverse encompassing disparities in relation to maternal and child health (MCH), immigrant heath, cancers, vaccination uptakes and COVID-19 infections. Various solutions were ardently presented to address these disparities including community engagement and partnerships, improvement in health literacy and development of novel technologies and therapeutics. With this summit, BCM continues to build on its long history of educational outreach initiatives to promote diversity in medicine by focusing on programs aimed at increasing the number of diverse and highly qualified medical professionals ready to introduce effective and innovative approaches to reduce or eliminate health disparities. These programs will improve information resources, clinical education, curricula, research and cultural competence as they relate to minority health issues and social determinants of health. The summit received very positive response in terms of zealous participation and outstanding evaluations; and overall, it was a great success.   Copyright © 2021 Lopez et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0.

The fifth annual summer research summit organized by the Center of Excellence (COE) in Health Equity, Training and Research, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), was held on May 17, 2022. The theme of this year’s summit was ‘Academic-Community Partnerships: Change Agents for Advancing Health Equity.’ Given the ongoing pandemic, the summit was conducted virtually through digital platforms. This program was intended for both BCM and external audiences interested in advancing health equity, diversity, and inclusion in healthcare among healthcare providers and trainees, biomedical scientists, social workers, nurses, and individuals involved in talent acquisition and development, such as hiring managers (HR professionals), supervisors, college and hospital affiliate leadership and administrators, as well as diversity and inclusion excellence practitioners. We had attendees from all regions of the United States as well as from Saudi Arabia. The content in this Book of Abstracts encapsulates a summary of the research efforts by the BCM COE scholars (which includes post-baccalaureate students, medical students, clinical fellows, and junior faculty from BCM) as well as the external summit participants. The range of topics in this year’s summit was quite diverse, encompassing disparities in relation to maternal and child health (MCH), immigrant health, cancers, vaccination uptakes, and COVID-19 infections. Various solutions were ardently presented to address these disparities, including community engagement and partnerships, improvement in health literacy, and the development of novel technologies and therapeutics. With this summit, BCM continues to build on its long history of educational outreach initiatives to promote diversity in medicine by focusing on programs aimed at increasing the number of diverse and highly qualified medical professionals ready to introduce effective and innovative approaches to reduce or eliminate health disparities. These programs will improve information resources, clinical education, curricula, research, and cultural competence as they relate to minority health issues and social determinants of health. The year’s summit was a great success!   Copyright © 2022 Dongarwar et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0.

AbstractA 2-year-old boy who presented with clinical, cerebrospinal fluid, and electrophysiological findings consistent with Guillain–Barre syndrome (GBS) was found to have a thoracic spinal cord mass due to a yolk sac tumor. On examination, he had an absent anal wink and flaccid anal ring which is atypical for GBS. This case demonstrates the need for a thorough physical examination on presentation of a child with a clinical and laboratory presentation of GBS and highlights the importance of prompt imaging studies when clinical suspicion arises because of atypical clinical signs, such as absent anal wink or low rectal tone.