As more and more organizations are shying away from diversity and inclusion initiatives, a national medical awards program is pursuing more diversity in clinical cancer research. Ozarks at Large’s Daniel Caruth explains.
The Robert A. Winn Excellence in Clinical Trials Award program is investing in research funding for greater diversity in clinical trials across the U.S. The program offers funding for early-career physicians and medical students at hospitals nationwide, and an effort to pursue clinical research with underrepresented communities.
Dr. Robert Winn, a pulmonologist and director of oncology at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center, also the award’s namesake, says trials for many cancer treatments often leave out the most vulnerable communities.
“Since 1991, we have reduced cancer by 36%. That’s not just because people are eating right and going to the gym. It’s because you have prevention strategies, screening strategies. But a large portion of that has been actually trials. So when we think about community-oriented clinical trials, the goal will be we can go from 36 to 50. But how we know that once you’ve ended the standard of care, the true nature of this is to give access to hope. What communities are lacking hope at the moment, or should need more hope, that’s what I should say. Rural communities and at-risk communities. This program is unapologetic about making sure that all people have access to hope through clinical trials.”
Catherine Grimes is president of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, which funds the Winn Award program, and says blind spots in clinical trials can have serious consequences when treatments go to market.
“You know, a lot of people don’t realize that today the status quo is we are studying new drugs in primarily a homogenous population. And so this program was designed specifically to expand the population, to diversify the population, because that’s going to help us understand how well treatments work for all the people who need it.
“As I just said, far too often, patients who are most affected by certain diseases are left completely out of the clinical trials for the drugs to treat those diseases. And that means we may not fully understand how well the treatment works for all populations. Researchers may miss critical information, such as the side effects or the safety concerns, that could affect the groups that are not included in the study.”
Dr. Winn says rural communities are often underrepresented in clinical trials because they can lack easy access to hospitals and clinics or are mistrusting of this kind of research.
“The reality is our trainees are learning from a health system and health delivery sort of perspective how to first engage communities, then educate communities, and then be able to break down barriers so that those rural communities, also like in Arkansas, can get the best access and the best benefits of the science in clinical trials. So that’s kind of been the focus of the program from the start.”
Catherine Grimes says expanding the reach of clinical research has to start with physicians. In January, the Winn Awards will offer two opportunities for medical students and doctors across the country to do just that.
“We’ve got applications open for our Clinical Investigator Pathway program that is the summer immersion program for medical students who may be interested in exposure to and mentorship towards a clinical research career path. And in January, we’re going to be opening applications for our Career Development Award. That is the two-year award for early-stage investigator physicians to learn how to become community-oriented clinical trialists,” she says.
Those programs are available for any current medical students or junior faculty physicians in the United States.
For Ozarks at Large, I’m Daniel Caruth.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
