the African American population, but also to make sure that the treatments are affecting people equally in terms of side effects and in terms of effectiveness. So I think that is very important. I encourage all of my patients who are eligible to enroll in clinical trials. But if someone is not a candidate for a clinical trial, there are all kinds of research to be involved in. So I tell everyone to get in where they fit in. So if a clinical trial is not the thing for you, they’re often surveys. There are registries, there are many other projects that you can be involved in to contribute to understanding MS better, even if you’re not involved in a trial related to medications.
So many people, when we talk about research, say I don’t want to be a Guinea pig, how do I know it’s safe? And the answer is before a large clinical trial is done, there are several phases of research that occur. So certainly medications are tested in animal models, right? So it gives us an idea of some of the side effects. But certainly mice and other animals are not people. And so when clinical trials are done, they’re done in certain phases. So the first phase is in a very small number of people to look at side effects. The second phase is in a slightly larger number of people, usually around