In this MD Newsline exclusive interview with pulmonologist and critical care physician Dr. Komal Parikh, we discuss recent research developments in the treatment of asthma. We also discuss how to increase recruitment and enrollment of diverse groups in asthma clinical trials.
MD Newsline:
Is there any research that excites you or that you think is important for healthcare providers to know related to the treatment of asthma?
Dr. Komal Parikh:
“I think a lot of the biologics and immunotherapies that are coming out are really important. There’ve been 5 or 6 in the works, really good medications. I’m hoping that the more we can learn about them and the cytokines and the interleukins—the cellular effects of asthma—we’ll be able to treat asthma better. A lot of the studies are doing that right now, which I think is amazing.”
MD Newsline:
How do you think we can increase recruitment and enrollment of diverse groups in asthma clinical trials?
Dr. Komal Parikh:
“A lot of the really major clinical trials are happening at big academic medical centers. And I think that is amazing, but what would be very helpful would be to extend a lot of these studies to more urban and rural facilities.
So right now, a lot of academic medical centers and healthcare systems own hospitals in more urban and rural areas. And I think involving those patient populations and those physicians in those studies will be very helpful because not only will it cater to a whole different patient population, but it caters to the population as a whole, and we’ll be able to generalize more easily.”
Responses have been condensed and lightly edited.