Overview

This is the first cell culture textbook to place health equity at its foundation. While traditional texts teach students how to culture cells, this groundbreaking work asks the critical question they ignore: whose cells are we culturing, and who gets left behind? Written by Dr. Simone Badal—who developed the first Caribbean-derived cancer cell lines and discovered ancestry-specific drug responses that challenge decades of assumptions—this set of companion volumes exposes the hidden crisis in biomedical research: cell line collections systematically exclude most of the world's populations, undermining precision medicine's promise and perpetuating health disparities. Volume I: Foundations, Diversity Crisis, and the Path Forward moves from essential techniques and historical context through rigorous analysis of representation gaps, their clinical consequences, and actionable solutions. Students learn not just cell culture methodology, but why the field's homogeneity matters and how to build truly representative research programs. Volume II: Laboratory Manual and Implementation, the companion volume to this text, provides practical protocols, troubleshooting guides, and quality control standards—with explicit attention to adapting techniques for resource-limited settings and developing diverse cell models. Together, this two-volume set of textbooks prepare the next generation of scientists to conduct rigorous research that serves global health equity, not just convenient populations. Integrated learning objectives, case studies linking cellular biology to clinical outcomes, critical thinking exercises, and comprehensive teaching resources make complex concepts accessible while maintaining scientific rigor. This is an essential resource for those studying cell biology and cancer biology,  training in biomedical research and pharmaceutical sciences, and anyone committed to precision medicine that works for diverse populations.

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9783032288721

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Dr. Simone Badal is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences at The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica, and Principal Investigator of the AntiCancer Research Jamaica Laboratory. She has established herself as the Caribbean's leading cancer researcher, developing the first Caribbean-derived cancer cell lines from Black patients—ACRJ-PC28 (prostate) and ACRJ-BC24 (breast cancer series)—revealing ancestry-specific drug responses that challenge decades of assumptions about universal therapeutic efficacy. She has secured over $1 million in competitive funding from NIH, Pfizer, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Her pioneering work has been recognized with the 2025 Anthony N. Sabga Caribbean Award for Excellence in Science & Technology, selection as a 2024-2025 Springer Nature/BCRF Rising Scholar, the 2022 Flair Distinguished Award for Science & Technology, and designation as a research pioneer by Jamaica's Scientific Research Council. Beyond research, she teaches cell culture at UWI, founded the ACRJ Foundation supporting Caribbean youth education, and serves on Wellcome Trust's Expert Advisory Group for Inclusive Research Design. Her career demonstrates that transformative science addressing global health disparities can emerge from anywhere when given partnership, resources, and commitment.  

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