Minorities continue to be underrepresented in medical research and clinical trials. The 1993 Revitalization Act of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) mandated all federal grants for clinical research include women and minorities in research trials. However, current evidence suggest that community engagement strategies are critical to addressing the long-standing lack of diversity in clinical trials.
Several historical barriers have led to low participation rates among minorities in clinical trials. These barriers include:
- Factors related to the clinical trial – such as clinical trial design and eligibility
- Factors related to patients – such as access to health care, trust of medical providers or the lack of clinical trial information
- Factors related to health systems – such as lack of appropriate incentives to participate, implicit biases or lack of policies to enforce diversity
The NEF-CTaTS Consortium is committed to developing strategies to mitigate these barriers to clinical trial participation and to addressing the long-lived health disparities faced by minoritized members of the local community.
