Since his arrival, the journal has added four editors and four editorial board members, and in June, introduced a section of the journal’s website called Race and Medicine. Although the journal does not have self-reported information on race, half of the new additions are people of color, and three — including the new executive editor — are women, he said.That’s a step in the right direction, but journals will also have to learn to address racism more directly in order to improve lives, Dr. Bassett said. As health commissioner of New York City from 2014 to 2018, she made confronting racism a central part of her work.“When you can’t see what’s in front of you, and you can’t talk about it, you obviously can’t solve it,” she said. “That’s just no longer acceptable.”