By Clinical Informatics News Staff

March 13, 2014 | Yesterday, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and the National Minority Quality Forum announced a national campaign to help increase diversity in clinical trials.

The I’m In campaign aims to raise awareness about the importance of clinical research and encourage greater participation by diverse patient populations to help researchers develop potential new life-saving medicines. Partnerships with patient advocacy organizations, provider groups, individual physicians, clinical trials sponsors and researchers will help to drive campaign awareness and involvement.

Groups such as African Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanics are significantly underrepresented in clinical research.  According to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), African Americans represent 12% of the U.S. population but only 5% of clinical trial participants and Hispanics make up 16% of the population but only 1% of clinical trial participants.

“PhRMA and our member companies are committed to raising awareness and increasing participation in clinical trials, particularly among historically underrepresented populations,” said John Castellani, President and CEO of PhRMA, in a press release. “Through this collaboration of health care leaders, we are taking a major step forward to help reduce health disparities through greater inclusiveness in clinical research.”

I’m In will support the build-up of the National Minority Quality Forum’s Clinical Trial Engagement Network, a comprehensive, sustainable solution to help accelerate the inclusion of underrepresented populations in clinical trials. Authorized users will be able to simply and quickly identify potential clinical trial participants by utilizing zip code level mapping of disease clusters and simultaneously identifying and connecting points of care and community resources that can assist with site selection and patient recruitment.

“Through the I’m In campaign, new online resources such as the Clinical Trial Engagement Network will be introduced to empower individuals to learn more about clinical trials and the benefits of participating in clinical research,” said Dr. Gary Puckrein, president and CEO of the National Minority Quality Forum.

To learn more about clinical trials and the I’m In campaign, please visit www.JoinImIn.org.