Atlanta will play a key role in a new national campaign to increase the ranks of women, African-Americans, Latinos and Asians in clinical trials.
Organizers of the “I’m In” campaign said the city was tapped largely because of its large African-American population and the presence of research programs at various educational institutions, including the Morehouse School of Medicine. Other cities, such as Miami and San Francisco, were included for pilot programs because of the high number of Latino and Asian residents.
“Low participation (of minorities and women) is a major crisis in this country,” said Dr. Salvatore Alesci, vice president for scientific affairs for PhRMA, also known as the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. PhRMA represents biopharmaceutical researchers and biotechnology companies.
It is leading the effort along with the National Minority Quality Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that works to eliminate health disparities.
Researchers have long known that certain drugs are processed differently, based on genetic variables. So, a treatment that is highly effectively in a white patient might not be as effective in black patients.
And the only way to determine that, he said, is to have a wide and diverse pool of volunteers in clinical trials.
Alesci said the main obstacles are trust and awareness.
The campaign will use social media such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook to encourage volunteers to sign up through the Clinical Trial Engagement Network. The network consists basically of a website, where people can receive information about clinical trials in their areas and how to get involved. The website is www.JoinImIn.org.
Blacks, for instance, have higher rates of heart disease, HIV/AIDS, obesity and diabetes than whites, but are underrepresented in clinical trials that can help find treatments. Research has shown that some drugs metabolize differently in certain ethnic groups and genders, making the drugs more or less effective or toxic.
PhRMA is also enlisting advocacy partners such as universities, hospitals and professional associations.
It aims to enlist more volunteers like 56-year-old Gwendolyn Wright of Union City, a breast cancer survivor who was part of a clinical trial at Morehouse that tested a medicine to reduce hot flashes in some cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy and radiation.
“We need to wake up,” Wright said. “We tend to shy away from clinical trials. We don’t want to be bothered. But certain drugs work differently in blacks than whites. We need to get involved — for us.”
Indeed, African-Americans represent 12 percent of the U.S. population but only 5 percent of clinical trial participants, according to a 2011 report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Latinos make up about 16 percent of the population, the report states, yet 1 percent of clinical trial participants; and men comprise more than two-thirds of the participants in clinical tests of cardiovascular devices.
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