BlackDoctor.org, a health platform that reaches 20 million people, launched a new initiative, Generational Health, that aims to connect science and culture to improve the health and longevity of Black families.
The initiative, unveiled at the 2025 American Public Health Association (APHA) conference in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, represents a sustained national effort to "reimagine how health is understood, taught and passed down," according to the organization.
Generational Health also aims to expand educational opportunities for historically excluded students to enter healthcare professions.
It marks the beginning of a five-year effort that will use BlackDoctor.org's 20-year history of providing trusted health information as well as community and cultural engagement as a foundation, and the organization plans to partner with pharmaceutical brands to shape conversations around culturally grounded care, according to Aki Garrett, president and chief operating officer at BlackDoctor Inc.
"Generational Health is a movement that is going to redefine a blueprint for longevity. We're going to use methods of storytelling, first-person narratives, interviews and engaging with the broader healthcare ecosystem as well as patients to really understand how we can connect the past with the present, science and cultural storytelling, to develop a new generational course for a diverse patient population, and, specifically, the Black patient population here in America," Garrett told Fierce Healthcare in an exclusive interview about the new initiative.
"At BlackDoctor, we see ourselves not just as a platform, but as an engine for transformative change. For too long, narratives around health have been centered on disparities rather than possibilities. We are rewriting that story," he noted.
The goal, he said, is to "shape a future where longevity, vitality and wellness are not the exception, but the expectation in our community."
"Generational Health redefines health and longevity as more than biology—it is an inheritance shaped by family history, tradition, belief systems and shared knowledge passed down through generations," Garrett said. "By honoring the power of these intergenerational narratives and preparing the next generation of culturally sensitive healthcare professionals, we are building a future where health is understood in its full context—rooted in legacy, strengthened by culture and sustained for generations to come.”
BlackDoctor.org launched in December 2005 as an internet health portal, providing information on health issues and a resource to find physicians. It now reaches a total audience of 20 million people, with 6 million monthly website visitors. The organization uses culture, content and technology to improve health outcomes for Black consumers.
Through the Generational Health initiative, BlackDoctor, along with its partners, will focus on disease states and medical comorbidities that disproportionately impact Black patients to improve health, Garrett said. "We're going to focus on the intergenerational inheritance of certain diseases and lifestyles that lead to disease states that are very prevalent in the Black community," he added.
The initiative's second objective is to increase the diversity of the healthcare workforce.
The U.S. Black population has grown by 33% between 2000 and 2023, with an estimated 48.3 million people self-identified as Black, making up 14.4% of the country’s population, according to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Pew Research Center.
"When you look at healthcare professionals and particular positions, it's not at the same ratio. There is a need for more diverse healthcare professionals, and particularly those that have historically been excluded in terms of entering into healthcare professions. This movement aims to increase that number significantly, and we're committed to a five-year plan to drive those numbers much higher," Garrett said.
BlackDoctor.org is looking to partner with Black medical institutions on these efforts while also teaming up with organizations that focus on healthcare workforce development at high schools and undergrad universities.
"It's about providing a tangible pathway for them to follow, through mentorship, through coaching and guidance, while, as they're getting their education, to ultimately get them into a healthcare profession. That could be as a physician, as a nurse, as a therapist, a licensed clinical social worker—there are many different paths towards the healthcare profession, and we want to be able to facilitate that and be a conduit for that," he said.
The organization also wants to build out relationships with larger health institutions and health systems on the nationwide initiative.
"We want to create opportunities on the pipeline side and workforce development side but also help those institutions to serve the Black community," Garrett noted. "There's obviously mistrust and distrust within our community. The reason why we exist is to really help to break down that mistrust and distrust of the healthcare system, and we do that by being a trusted partner that can articulate to our audience and to those people that engage with our content in a way that they can relate to."
He added, "We welcome any and all partners who see this movement as something that could be beneficial and something that is worthy of their involvement. We're open to conversations on ways to engage, and we're excited about seeing a growing interest in what we're doing here at BDO when it comes to Generational Health."
At the APHA conference Sunday, BlackDoctor.org hosted a Generational Health daylong panel featuring health experts, public health advocates and pharmaceutical executives to discuss chronic disease prevention and ways to address health disparities.
"We are bringing together thought leaders on the public health and health equity side of the world with leaders on the pharma side of the world and trying to bridge the gap between those two worlds. I think we're facing a very precarious time in our nation, and I think this is a perfect convening point and launch pad for this type of conversation when we think about Generational Health," Garrett said.
Speakers included Mathew Knowles, Ph.D., music executive and cancer survivor; Rosalind Hollingsworth, Ph.D., executive director and medical head, IDN strategy, at Moderna; Pamela Barnes, director of federal strategic alliances at Bristol Myers Squibb; and Emma Andrews, vice president, U.S. patient advocacy and business policy and public affairs at Pfizer.
"Generational Health represents a groundbreaking shift in how communities understand and pass down health knowledge," Andrews said in a statement.
Garrett asserts that BlackDoctor.org's 20-year legacy of providing trusted health content will give the Generational Health initiative momentum to change health outcomes.
"We are constantly producing information and publishing information that aligns with and speaks to the audience that we serve in a language that they'll understand, and in a way and in a tone that is what we call 'How to do it. You can do it' type of content," he said. "We've also engaged with our audience in a hand-to-hand way through community and cultural engagement, such as holding events, whether it be an event at Morehouse College or a community festival. We are on the ground engaging with the communities that we serve. We also work with some of the best not-for-profits across the country, and that will help us ensure success of the Generational Health movement."
He added, "Having that trust and having partnered with some of the best pharmaceutical brands that are invested in providing treatments to this diverse community, we will help shape a future where longevity, vitality and wellness are an expectation in our community."
BlackDoctor.org has built a "phenomenal network" of pharmaceutical partners that have indicated a commitment to the Generational Health initiative, Garrett said.
Generational Health is planning upcoming summits in February and April.