Clinical Trials

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), fewer than 10% of patients enrolled in clinical trials are minorities. This begs the question whether clinical trials data and research are truly relevant. Dr. Consuelo Hopkins Wilkins is a researcher at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis who experiences challenges recruiting older African Americans...

The MINDACT trial sought to create a systematic comparison of therapeutic outcomes for different populations stratified according to clinical and genomic risk categories. Of the 6693 patients involved, all were categorized as a combination of clinical-high, clinical-low, genomic-high and genomic-low risk. The intended outcome of the trial was to determine if clinical-low, genomic-high patients, and...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated progressive disease that results in chronic inflammation and demyelination of the central nervous system. It leads to physical and cognitive disability, with symptoms including fatigue, gait and visual disturbances, bowl and bladder dysfunction, cognitive dysfunction and mental health symptoms. The exact cause of MS is unknown but is thought to...

A lack of diverse representation of patients in clinical research has made it difficult to adequately assess the unique patient journey and efficacy of treatment for minority MS patients in comparison to non-Hispanic Caucasian women.   According to a recent study published earlier this year in Multiple Sclerosis and Demyelinating Disorders. The African-American population in...