For 2,000 years, medical illustrations have been used for education and training. But these illustrations have depicted mostly white male figures—teaching generations of doctors and patients that white men are the norm. In 2022, an image of a black fetus in-womb created by medical illustrator and medical student Chidiebere Ibe bluntly exposed this issue.

As a global company, Johnson & Johnson works with patient groups, providers, governments, and other stakeholders worldwide to ensure patients have access to affordable, safe, quality health care. To increase diverse representation in medical imagery—and ultimately help improve health outcomes for people of color—Johnson & Johnson partnered with the Association of Medical Illustrators to launch Illustrate Change. And collaborated with Chidiebere Ibe himself and diverse medical illustrators around the world.

According to a study from the National Institute of Health (NIH), less than 5% of medical images show dark skin. This study analyzed 4,146 images from some of the world’s most prominent medical texts (Atlas of Human Anatomy, Bates' Guide to Physical Examination & History Taking, Clinically Oriented Anatomy, and Gray's Anatomy for Students).

Medical illustration is a small field with fewer than 2,000 trained practitioners in the world, most of whom are white men. Only 8% of medical illustrators identify as people of color.

By creating the world’s largest library of medical illustrations, and the first fellowship to support and train diverse medical illustrators around the world, we set out to transform healthcare, from teaching and training to education and diagnosis.

Illustrate Change is part of Johnson & Johnson’s Our Race to Health Equity, a bold commitment to create a world where the color of your skin is not a determinant of access to care, treatment, or health outcomes. To increase representation in medical imagery—which leads to better health outcomes for people of color—Johnson & Johnson partnered with the Association of Medical Illustrators to create the world’s largest library of diverse medical illustrations.

The lack of representation in medical literature is an important factor contributing to health inequities globally—increasing the likelihood for people of color to experience medical errors and misdiagnosis that can be fatal. According to the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 62% of providers will misidentify melanomas on skin of color when only 13% misidentify them on white skin.

Illustrate Change is transforming representation in healthcare, creating a more equitable system.

1. Promoting Health Literacy: The comprehensive collection of medical illustrations makes complex health information more understandable and accessible to everyone, regardless of their educational background or health knowledge.

2. Access to Health Information: Illustrate Change is open-source and free to ensure that health information can be globally accessible.

3. Reducing Health Disparities: By offering medical illustrations that reflect the diversity of the global population, Illustrate Change can help reduce health disparities and ensure that all racial and ethnic groups feel represented and included in health education and communication.

4. Foster Systemic Change: Establish a fellowship to train a diverse new generation of medical illustrators, thereby permanently altering medical education and practice.

Illustrate Change is transforming the way we learn, the way we treat, and the way millions of patients are represented in medicine. It’s been globally recognized as an essential tool by doctors and patients, adopted by medical school curriculums around the world, and featured by the United Nations Development Program.

Every image, source, and written description was meticulously reviewed by a bespoke board of 14 doctors, medical affairs specialists, and Health Equity experts, creating a customized medical, legal, and regulatory process for the initiative.

The visual identity is rooted in the American Civil Rights movement, with typography that pays homage to posters from the March on Washington.

To create lasting impact and ensure that Illustrate Change will continue to scale for years to come, we established a first-of-its-kind fellowship to support and train diverse medical illustrators with 760% above target for fellowship applications.

In one year, Illustrate Change increased diversity in medical illustrations by >67%, with 125+ new diverse images that for 2,000 years have been missing from healthcare. Fighting structural racism in healthcare and transforming the industry itself.

Organically recognized by medical school curriculums and health systems (Manchester University School of Medicine, Harvard, McGill, UW Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, American Nursing Association, Frank H. Netter M.D. School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University)

Established the world’s first fellowship for diverse medical illustrators—with 11 diverse contributing artists from 8 different countries.

Achieved 760% above target for fellowship applications.

125+ open-source medical images across women’s health, maternal health, cardiology, dermatology, eye disease, hematology, oncology, and orthopedics

45M reach in the first month

Globally recognized as an essential tool by doctors and patients.

Featured by the United Nations Development Program