Almost every medicine you take has been tested beforehand in a clinical trial. But if you’re not white or male, there’s a good chance people like you were not included in the trial group—so the trial results might not apply. Maybe a different dose or a different medicine would be more effective.
We can’t be confident that new medicines work well for all patients unless clinical trials include men and women of all races and ethnicities. That’s why Clinical Research Pathways is working to increase diversity in clinical trials—and why we need your help.
Many minority groups are still underrepresented in U.S. clinical trials. For example, black or African Americans represent 13.4% of the U.S. population but only 5% of clinical trial participants. That underrepresentation contributes to disparities in treatment effectiveness and long-term health.
Together, we can reduce those health disparities.
Last year at this time, Clinical Research Pathways launched our health equity program, Training Minority Clinical Teams: Getting New Quality Medicines to All Americans, with our partner Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. In the months since we took critical steps to increase minority patient participation in clinical research so they can benefit from potential treatment breakthroughs.
Already, we can point to important accomplishments:
- Six minority physicians have been recruited and trained as clinical investigators and, in the coming year, will begin enrolling minority patients and conducting clinical trials.
- Training has been expanded and, in addition to cardiology, now includes physicians in other high-impact specialties, such as adult diabetes, adult and pediatric infectious diseases, neurology/Parkinson’s disease, nephrology, and sleep disorders.
- We have the infrastructure in place to add partners whose expertise will open doors to clinical trials for cancer and other serious conditions—for minority physician investigators and for minority patients.
Clinical Research Pathways also helped physicians access investigational medicines for their desperately ill patients. We continue to work closely with FDA and the Reagan-Udall Foundation on expanded access, and our website remains a go-to source for clear, comprehensive information on this pathway to experimental treatments.
Each accomplishment fuels our determination to do more—and to ask you to join us.
Please make a gift to help Clinical Research Pathways continue to open access and advance treatments for all, especially those who are underrepresented in clinical research. By helping increase minority representation in clinical trials, you will have a powerful, positive impact—on health equity and well-being.
With appreciation,
