A new grant awarded to the Center for Public Health Law Research (CPHLR) at Temple University Beasley School of Law by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) seeks to provide guidance for using public health law to address racial discrimination. 

Increasingly, anti-racism and structural racism work addressing racial discrimination has been under attack as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and the issuance of several Executive Orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion.  

At the same time, several states and the federal government have sought to limit public health law powers. Consequently, many of the programs and practices adopted to achieve health equity and improve the social determinants of health have been cancelled. 

Led by Ruqaiijah Yearby, JD, MPH, the Judge Clifford Scott Green Chair in Law at the Beasley School of Law, the research team at CPHLR will partner with an advisory board to conduct a literature review of anti-racism initiatives, an environmental scan of anti-discrimination laws, and interviews of key stakeholders. 

“We are so grateful to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for their support of this work,” said Yearby. “During the grant, our team will combine our expertise in legal epidemiology with the insight and guidance of our advisory committee to create an actionable list of next-steps to eradicate racial discrimination.” 

The project, Producing a blueprint for building a public health law infrastructure focused on eliminating racial discrimination in governmental public health, will run from November 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026.