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Yet years of brain research tells us that much bias is actually unconscious — known as implicit bias — and perpetuated in hidden ways that are often enabled by seemingly race-neutral choices. A 2012 study used patient vignettes to examine the role of implicit bias among pediatricians. Those doctors with higher levels of pro-white bias were more likely to prescribe painkillers after surgery to white patients than to black. More holistically, a 2013 report from the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity found that bias is institutionalized in our collective practices and policies, not just overtly perpetuated by individuals.