Dr. Thomas A. LaVeist discusses the state of efforts to explain race disparities in health. He explores why biological/genetic approaches, healthcare access, and socioeconomic status have all failed to explain race disparities. Results from a study being conducted at the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, directed by Dr. LaVeist, show that social factors seem to be the primary reason for race disparities. Specifically, this research indicates that disparities are caused by race differences in the health risk environments where black and white Americans live.

Dr. Thomas A. LaVeist is a professor, author, and public speaker who has been featured in Newsweek, Newsday, Black Enterprise, and the Baltimore Sun, as well as on CNN, National Public Radio, and other national media outlets. Dr. LaVeist has focused his studies on the major healthcare gaps in America, the trends causing them, and the problems they create. He has written numerous articles that have been published in scientific public health and medical journals. His latest book, Minority Populations and Health: An Introduction to Health Disparities in the United States, was released in 2005. His edited volume, Race, Ethnicity and Health: A Public Health Reader, was published in 2002.

He is also the author of the DayStar Guide for Colleges for African American Students and co-author of 8 Steps To Help Black Families Pay for College. Dr. LaVeist received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, and his Ph.D. degree in medical sociology from the University of Michigan.