- New efforts focus on research infrastructure, continued
training of diverse clinical research personnel and improved
diversity within Abbott's own clinical trials
- Abbott's Diversity in Clinical Trials initiative aligns with
the company's continued focus for greater health equity, expanded
access, affordability and removing barriers to life-saving
technology and innovation
- The new programs build on a successful first year of the
multi-million-dollar corporate initiative
ABBOTT
PARK, Ill., May 11, 2023
/PRNewswire/ -- Abbott (NYSE: ABT) today announced a series of new
programs within its multi-million-dollar initiative to increase
diversity in clinical trials and improve care among
under-represented populations. The new additions to Abbott's
Diversity in Clinical Trials initiative build on the partnerships,
scholarships, and the focus on diversified participants in the
company's own clinical trials during the initiative's first
year.
The latest programs include the launch of a new initiative with
the Norton Healthcare Foundation to build and implement new models
of sustainable clinical research alongside the Institute for Health
Equity, a Part of Norton Healthcare in Louisville, Ky.; a new training program for
clinical research coordinators in partnership with Barnett
International; and a newly-created Diversity in Research Office at
Abbott focused on ensuring diverse representation in clinical
trials.
"Clinical trials drive new, innovative tools to fight diseases,
and overcoming barriers to access to clinical trials for
under-represented communities is critical to improving health
equity," said Andrea Wainer,
executive vice president, Rapid and Molecular Diagnostics, and
co-executive sponsor for the company's Diversity in Clinical Trials
steering committee alongside Lisa
Earnhardt, executive vice president of Medical Devices at
Abbott. "Abbott has been focused on breaking down barriers and
implementing new, sustainable partnerships and programs to drive
even more diversity in our clinical trials and to ensure trials are
offered in more places to reach underserved areas."
Improving Access Through New Clinical Research
Models
Through a new five-year commitment, Abbott will work
alongside the Institute for Health Equity at Norton Healthcare to
build research program models that can be implemented by
historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and clinics
serving under-represented communities so they don't need to design
and develop their own research programs from the ground up, which
can be expensive and resource intensive.
Within the program, Abbott and Norton
Healthcare will provide a roadmap of best practices to help
community-based clinics create clinical trial research centers of
excellence. The initiative will also provide grants to support the
hiring and training of research coordinators and data managers and
help guide the launch of research programs. Alongside building
sustainable research programs, the effort aims to increase the
number of trial sites that can reach underserved populations to
reduce barriers to clinical trials.
The first pilot project stemming from the new grant will work to
better connect more people from underrepresented communities to
clinical trials. The first project will develop a new research
center in Louisville, Ky., focused
on helping more African American patients access clinical trial
opportunities. The project will specifically support patients in
historically redlined areas of Louisville. "Redlining" is a discriminatory
practice of withholding services from neighborhoods with
significant numbers of racial and ethnic minorities and low-income
residents. As a result, those communities have had reduced access
to health services, including clinical research opportunities.
"As we focus on improving access to innovative health care
options for patients who have been historically under-represented
in clinical research, developing new models for research centers
that can be implemented within rural or urban community clinics can
have a profound impact on improving access to clinical trials for
these patients," said Kelly McCants,
M.D., a heart failure cardiologist and executive director of the
Norton Heart & Vascular Institute Advanced Heart Failure &
Recovery Program, who will help launch one of the pilot
programs.
Expanding the Pool of Diverse Clinical Research
Coordinators
Clinical research coordinators within
healthcare clinics, doctor's offices and hospitals are essential to
the success of clinical trials. They are key to improving the
diversity of clinical trials because they serve as a central point
of contact for patients, their families and the investigating
physician leading the clinical trial. Through a partnership with
Barnett International, Abbott is providing a comprehensive
education program to support the training of new coordinators who
are from diverse backgrounds and who will work with
under-represented communities.
Upon completion of this course, participants will have a strong
foundation in essential core areas of conducting clinical research.
This includes training on study execution, the patient consent
process, Good Clinical Practice guidelines, source documentation
requirements and other regulatory required procedures. Offering
training to clinical research coordinators with diverse
backgrounds will address another key barrier for potential study
participants.
New Diversity in Research Office within
Abbott
Alongside new external partnerships and programs, the
company has established a Diversity in Research Office to further
Abbott's focus on driving diversity in the company's clinical
trials and improving access to care among under-represented
populations.
The new Diversity in Research Office will be led by Jennifer Jones-McMeans, Ph.D., divisional vice
president of global clinical affairs for Abbott's vascular
business, and Aparna Ahuja, M.D.,
divisional vice president for medical, clinical, and scientific
affairs, Infectious Disease, for Abbott's rapid diagnostics
business. The office will be responsible for ensuring that research
efforts include diversity plans, key performance goals and foster
collaboration across Abbott, the industry and regulatory
bodies.
"Ensuring that clinical trials are as diverse as the people a
product intends to serve is critically important in providing the
best health care, so we're developing programs to address as many
barriers as possible," said Jones-McMeans. "At Abbott, we've
implemented programs that will increase the diversity of trials,
including assessing how we conduct our own trials to make sure that
we're doing all we can do to increase diversity in our clinical
trials by increasing participation from under-served and
under-represented populations."
Building Sustainable Change
Abbott's Diversity in
Clinical Trials initiative aligns with the company's continued
focus for greater health equity, expanded access, affordability and
removing barriers to life-saving technology and innovation.
In the first year of the program, Abbott established a Diversity
in Clinical Trials Medical Advisory Board comprised of external
experts, an internal steering committee and has focused on
increasing diversity enrollment in the company's own clinical
trials. Through $5 million in grants,
the company also sponsored more than 300 scholarships at the four
HBCU medical schools and the National Black Nurses Association and
National Association of Hispanic Nurses to support future leaders
of clinical research.
To learn more about Abbott's Diversity in Research Initiative,
visit https://www.abbott.com/diversity-in-clinical-trials.html.
Innovating for Greater Access and Equity in
Health
Abbott's work to drive diversity in medical research
is one example of the company innovating for greater access and
affordability in health, the key priority of Abbott's 2030
Sustainability Plan. Abbott's ongoing commitment to address
health equity challenges also includes targeted programs
to create opportunities in STEM for women and
underrepresented groups, build a more diverse healthcare supply
chain and empower communities to break down social
and economic barriers to better health.
About Abbott:
Abbott is a global healthcare leader
that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our
portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of
healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics,
medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our
115,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.
Connect with us at www.abbott.com, on LinkedIn
at www.linkedin.com/company/abbott-/, on Facebook
at http://www.facebook.com/Abbott and on
Twitter @AbbottNews.
View original
content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/abbott-announces-new-partnerships-and-programs-to-advance-its-diversity-in-clinical-trials-initiative-301821930.html
SOURCE Abbott