Academic scientists rely on grants to fund their research, and the largest funder of biomedical research is the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Unfortunately, many of the racial inequities in academic science have trickled their way into this grant funding process. As it stands, applications from African-American or Black scientists are less likely to be funded by federal funding agencies than applications submitted by white scientists. In this episode, Michael Taffe, PhD, a professor at UC San Diego, explains the complex root causes of this disparity and what scientists and institutes can do to address it. (Read his paper on the topic here: https://elifesciences.org/articles/65697)