Atlanta's Morehouse School of Medicine is joining a $10 million partnership aimed at making medical and drug research clinical trials more diverse.
The school's president, Valerie Rice, said getting more people of color to participate in clinic trials is a matter of health equity.
"It is the first step in achieving health equity because people may want to participate in a trial but they don't have the information or they're not top of mind with that provider," Rice said.
The Food and Drug Administration says 75% of clinical trial participants are white.
People of color face multiple barriers to participation, including job demands, transportation and historical mistrust.
The partnership announced Tuesday is backed by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a major trade group representing drug companies.
"The initiative will be a sustained effort in partnership with community leaders to provide pilot sites with the resources they need to break down barriers and build successful, trusted clinical trial sites," said Stephen Ubl, the trade group's president.
A statement from Morehouse said that the pilot sites will begin opening this summer, providing mentorship and training opportunities to help diversify the clinical trial workforce and connect patients to clinical trials.
The Yale School of Medicine and Vanderbilt University Medical Center are also partners in the project, called Equitable Breakthroughs in Medicine Development .
