Medical illustrations have a fundamental problem. And it can be fatal.

Less than 5% of medical images show dark skin and only 8% of medical illustrators identify as people of color. This lack of representation leads to biases in the healthcare system, which can lead to misconceptions and dangerous misdiagnosis. To fight structural inequalities in medicine, we created the world’s largest library of diverse medical illustrations—open-source and completely free to use for training and education. And as a commitment to systemic change, we established the first fellowship to train diverse medical illustrators around the world.

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.

Johnson & Johnson was one of the first major companies to make a public commitment to the SDGs in 2016 in continuation of our decades of work in public health around the world.

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 aims to change representation in healthcare, to create a more equitable system. Impacting the way we treat, the way we learn, and the way millions of patients are seen in medicine.

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

Supporting Preventive Healthcare: The platform's diverse illustrations can effectively communicate preventive measures, contributing to the goal of reducing illnesses and deaths from communicable and non-communicable diseases.

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

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.

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 goal was to not only drive long-term change, but also generate instant impact. So, we set out to create hundreds of diverse medical images for centuries that had been missing from healthcare, and to make them instantly available for free to doctors, patients, medical schools, and health institutions around the world.

In recent years Health Equity for women and marginalized communities has been a civil liberties issue, in response Illustrate Change aims to:

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

Help Reduce Bias: Minimize both conscious and unconscious biases by providing access to medical illustrations and conditions primary impacting minority populations ensuring more accurate diagnoses and superior care quality.

Enhance Education: Offer a comprehensive, open-source library of diverse medical illustrations for free to improve healthcare providers' knowledge and skills.

Promote Greater Health Equity: Commit to ensuring that all individuals receive equitable and just treatment in healthcare settings, regardless of race or ethnicity.

To fight structural racism in healthcare, we created Illustrate Change—the world’s largest library of diverse medical illustrations. With hundreds of new diverse medical images across conditions that disproportionately affect people of color. Open-source and completely free to use for training and education, leading to more accurate diagnosis and better representation in medicine.

As a commitment to lasting impact and to ensure that Illustrate Change will continue to scale for years to come, we established the first fellowship to support and train diverse medical illustrators around the world.

For 2,000 years, medical illustrations have shown that white men are the norm. 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 change representation in healthcare, targeting millions of patients, doctors, as well as medical schools, and healthcare institutions around the world.

We established a partnership between Johnson & Johnson and the Association of Medical Illustrators to build the world’s largest library of diverse medical illustrations and establish the first global fellowship for diverse medical illustrators. Providing funding, training, and support for diverse artists around the world to create an initial 125+ new medical images across critical conditions that disproportionately affect people of color.

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.

IllustrateChange.com launched (June 19, 2023)

Medical art gallery debuted in France (June 20, 2023) and the UK (October 16, 2023)

The Wall Street Journal full page ad (full U.S. market, June 21, 2023)

Open-source and free to use for education and training

In one year, Illustrate Change increased diversity in medical illustrations by >67%, with 125+ new diverse images that for centuries have been missing from healthcare. Changing representation for people of color and paving the way for a more equitable and sustainable future in medicine.

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

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)

45M reach in the first month

Globally recognized as an essential tool by doctors and patients.

Featured by the United Nations Development Program

The goal for Illustrate Change is to continue to scale, strengthening the global fellowship, developing new images across more conditions, and welcoming new partners to the movement. In March 2024, our partnership grew to include Peanut, an organization focused on the full spectrum of women’s health including fertility, pregnancy, motherhood, and menopause. We are actively working with Adobe to impact representation in medical illustrations with generative AI. The next phase of Illustrate Change will drive further global adoption from medical schools, and health systems, making diverse medical imagery an official part of medical literature. In upcoming year, we will study the real-world impact that inclusive imagery has on reducing misdiagnosis and improving patient outcomes for people of color.

According to the Digital Carbon Rating System, IllustrateChange.com is cleaner than 57% of all webpages globally, emitting only 0.41g of C02 every time someone visits the web page. The site runs on sustainable energy, as recognized by the Green Web Foundation. In one year, IllustrateChange.com emits the amount of carbon that 3 trees absorb in one year. Our global diversity fellowship runs 100% virtual, with zero travel for illustrators or clinician educators, minimizing the total carbon footprint for the initiative.