There are a couple of factors that have led to absent research and in particular what I want to highlight is bringing in diverse populations. We’ve learned that certain medications that are studied primarily in whites, in fact, once there was wide acceptance of the use of this medication, we found that in the black community those medications didn’t work as well.
So, it’s important to understand that representation of the entire populations, including of color and of diversity really contributes to reflect what it will be like to have that drug users in the general population. The other gaps are recognizing that many people just can’t take the time off to participate in the clinical research trials even if they wanted to – Single moms, folks who live too far away from clinical research centers.
Again, although they would like to participate, it becomes too costly or too difficult to do so. In addition, awareness, this is a big problem. Where folks who’d like to participate in clinical research don’t even know that clinical research exists. So here at Science 37, using a bunch of different methods, we can reach people make them aware and encourage people of color to participate. In addition, we have people here in Los Angeles who will talk to potential participants, be with them during the duration of the trial and help break down the barriers that are partly put up and block people from participating.