Skip to main content

Main menu

  • About Us
    • Leadership
    • Our Team
    • Vision, Mission and Values
    • Health and Economic Impact
    • Research Impact Video
    • Strategic Plan
  • Our Research
    • Research Focus
      • Brain Health
      • Cancer
      • Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence
      • Heart Health
      • Healthy Aging and Mobility
      • Immune System
      • Injury and Rehabilitation
      • Lung Health
      • Mental Health and Substance Use
    • Research Centres and Programs
      • BC Centre on Substance Use
      • Centre for Aging SMART
      • Centre for Cardiovascular Innovation
      • Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation
      • Centre for Lung Health
      • Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
      • Immunity and Infection Research Centre
      • International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries
      • M. H. Mohseni Institute of Urologic Sciences
      • Ovarian Cancer Research Centre
      • Community Research Program
      • Emergency Medicine Research Program
      • Hematology Research Program
      • Skin Research Program
      • Other Research Focus Areas
    • News and Stories
    • Researcher Directory
    • Events and Workshops
  • Research Services
    • New to VCHRI
      • Working at VCHRI
      • Regulations and Training
      • Membership with VCHRI
      • Learning and Development
    • Starting Your Project
      • Research Facilitation
      • Awards and Funding
      • Grant Management
      • Operational Approval
      • CST Cerner
    • Developing Your Project
      • Clinical Trials Administration
      • Clinical Research Unit
      • Research Privacy
      • Financial Policies and Procedures
    • Additional Support
      • Indigenous Health Research Unit
      • VCH-VCHRI AI Hub
      • Communications and Media Relations
      • Study Recruitment Support
      • Innovation and Industry Partnership
    • Internal Awards
    • Clinical Research
    • Indigenous Research
  • Participate in Research
    • Reasons to Participate
    • Participant Stories
    • Find a Study
    • Recruitment Support

User menu

  • Log in

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Our Research
  3. News and Stories
  4. Moving the dial on darker skin tone representation in medicine

Moving the dial on darker skin tone representation in medicine

Participate in Research Sep 1, 2022 4 minutes

"I participate in research because it has so much potential to help people like me and others; and, it can only move forward with our participation."

– Marisa Nelson, Port Moody

After years of living with an undiagnosed skin condition, 28-year-old Marisa Nelson felt compelled to volunteer for a new study that tested video-based vital sign diagnostic technology on people of varying skin tones. 

Born and raised in Vancouver, B.C., the recent University of British Columbia (UBC) psychology graduate frequently volunteered as a research study participant in her field. However, Nelson’s decision to participate in a clinical trial led by Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute researcher Dr. Kendall Ho was more personal in nature.

“I think that, within medical research, [people with darker skin tones] have not been considered a lot of the time,” says Nelson. “This is problematic in that, particularly when it comes to dermatology, skin conditions can appear quite different on people with darker skin.”

“It is very important to me to be part of the change to increase medical knowledge and the number of medical images of people with darker skin.”

As a participant in Ho’s research study, Nelson was video-recorded in a room where Ho and his research team tested the accuracy, reliability and usability of a high-definition video camera connected to the sophisticated VitalSeer software program. 

The research team used this contactless sensing system to take readings of Marisa’s and other research participants’ vital signs, such as their pulse, blood oxygenation level and respiration rate, aka, blood pressure. The high-definition cameras were able to collect this data from a person’s visible features, such as pulses of blood seen in tiny blood vessels on their face.

A study participant is viewed within the VitalSeer video analysis software used in Ho’s “Contactless Sensor Validation Study - COVID-19.”

Varying intensities of light were tested on volunteers to determine how different lighting environments could affect the accuracy of the software’s vital signs readings.

Ho’s contactless sensing approach could one day be used to remotely diagnose the presence of illnesses, such as COVID-19, as well as the stages of disease progression.

Marisa Nelson hopes that her participation in research will help calibrate contactless vital signs technology to people of varying skin colour, including darker skin tones.

“Virtual care has been growing in popularity over the years, but the challenges of COVID-19 pushed the medical field to go online overnight,” says Ho.

“So far, our research has shown that the contactless sensors are returning very similar results to the traditional gold standard forms of vital signs detection.” 

Dr. Kendall Ho is an emergency medicine specialist and a professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at UBC where he also leads the Digital Emergency Medicine Unit.

“This is the first step in developing this technology,” Ho adds. “Working together with engineers and other clinicians, we can better understand the clinical context and potential gaps that may need to be filled to provide better virtual care.” 

A need to expand the diversity of medical images

The proper representation of varying shades of skin is a growing area of importance within the medical community, including dermatology, and one that both Ho and Nelson hope to shed more light on through this research project. 

A study published in 2018 found that, of the 4,146 clinical images from medical textbooks that researchers analyzed, around 74.5 per cent were of patients with lighter skin tones, 21 per cent represented medium skin tones and a mere 4.5 per cent represented darker skin tones. 

“When we conduct research, we want to make it applicable to as many people as possible.” 

“Greater Vancouver is a diverse place, which has made recruiting participants for this study from different ethnic backgrounds and with varying skin tones much easier. It also underscores the importance of their inclusion in research studies such as this one,” notes Ho.

In her spare time, Nelson enjoys hiking, cleaning up garbage left on the trails, yoga, tutoring children with learning disabilities and fundraising for the BC Schizophrenia Society.

Having experienced a lingering skin condition in the past, Nelson recalls her frustration when searching for answers and encountering a lack of images of people with skin similar to her own to provide a comparison. Expanding the face of medical research and diagnostic images can help bridge this gap, she says.

“For me, it feels good to be included,” states Nelson, who plans to pursue studies in occupational therapy next. 

“By being invited to participate in this research study as a person of colour, I felt as though I was seen and being made an important consideration in medicine, which was a really important moment for me. It is so awesome to be part of this change.”

Ho invites members of the community to help in the development of innovations in easy-to-use digital health tools. Learn more about his research and opportunities to participate.

This is one patient's story of participating in a research study. Your experience may differ. Learn about clinical trials before participating.

Researchers

Kendall Ho

Related Articles

The adverse drug event that almost took my life

Gambling’s dopamine pathway to addiction

Looking FashionABLE in a wheelchair

Share:

  • Facebook
  • Linkedin
  • Twitter
  • Email

Related Research Centres/Programs

Emergency Medicine Research Program

Get the latest research headlines in your inbox

Subscribe

Recent News and Stories

Type
Announcement

Celebrating the life and distinguished career of Dr. Marcel Dvorak

May 14, 2025
Type
Stories

More equitable representation needed in Parkinson’s research

May 9, 2025 parkinsons, patient engagement, women
Type
Stories

Gamified stroke recovery improves arm function

May 8, 2025 stroke, rehabilitation
See more news

Get updates!

Join our newsletter mailing list to stay up to date on features and releases.

Subscribe

Quick Links

  • News and Stories
  • Careers
  • Events
  • Media Enquiries

Follow Us

  • LinkedIn
  • X
  • YouTube

© 2025 VCHRI. All rights reserved.

  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy