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When Will Clinical Trials Finally Reflect Diversity?
Article

When Will Clinical Trials Finally Reflect Diversity?

Nature, 2018


Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Scientific
  • Eye Opening
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

You seek treatment for a health condition, and your doctor writes you a prescription. But will the drug be safe for you? If you are a racial or ethnic minority, or have a rare genetic variant, chances are that what works for others will be ineffective or even dangerous for you. The term “others” in this case refers to clinical trial participants who continue to be predominantly white, as Todd C. Knepper and Howard L. McLeod explain in the journal Nature. Their article makes a compelling case for diversifying clinical trials and will engage anyone concerned with science, health care and society as a whole. 

Take-Aways

  • Clinical trials have too little racial and ethnic diversity.
  • The effectiveness and side effects of drugs vary across different populations.
  • Drug developers can take a range of measures to make clinical trials more inclusive.

About the Authors

Todd C. Knepper is a personalized medicine specialist and Howard L. McLeod is chair of the Department of Individualized Cancer Medicine at DeBartolo Family Personalized Medicine Institute in Tampa, Florida. 


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