Penn Bioethics Seminar (PBS): Black Bodies and the Color of Clinical Trials: Racism and the Problem of Representation in Clinical Research

Black Bodies and the Color of Clinical Trials: Racism and the Problem of Representation in Clinical Research

Adebayo Oluwayomi, PhD
Assistant Professor, West Chester University

Lunch is provided for in-person attendees.
Livestreaming available via Zoom.

Clinical trials are important for finding new treatments for diseases, uncovering and decreasing the chances of developing disease, which generally helps to save and improve lives. It is vitally important that such interventions take into account the plurality of etiological conditions and human genetic variation. In other words, the inclusion of broad patient populations, such as people of different races, ethnic groups, sex/genders, ages or those with rare conditions, can help provide evidence that the study drug or medical device will be safe and effective in the wider target patient pool if the drug or device is approved. This is why diversity and representation matter in clinical research. Today, in the United States, there is an enduring problem of the underrepresentation of Blacks in clinical research. In this talk, I examine the problem of lack of racial, ethnic inclusivity in clinical trials considering qualitative and quantitative data from recent studies in the areas of oncology, dermatology, and OB-GYN research. I examine how this problem can be traced to the historical legacies of misanthropic racism in clinical or medical research while imagining possible ways to productively engage with this problem as a scientific, medical and moral issue.