Clinical Research

Suppose your organization is seeking assistance in the ethical recruitment of research and clinical trial participants. EHAN’s commitment to advance health equity includes a focus on health literacy to improve knowledge of the disease and the study process. We believe this builds a sustainable trust and respect between study participants and investigators.

At EHAN, our commitment is to increase minority participation in clinical trials, particularly for African American/Black, Latinx, and other populations of color, as well as our disability populations, to advance health equity.

Diverse representation is not just important; it’s crucial to the success of biomedical and pharmaceutical trials in health care delivery to significantly impact improving health outcomes.

Please, contact EHAN to discuss.

5 things prospective study participants should know about clinical trials:

  1. Clinical trials are research studies conducted with people to answer specific research questions about medical products or therapies.

  2. Remember, your participation in a clinical trial is always in your hands. You can leave a study whenever you feel it's not right for you. 

  3. Most clinical trials often need healthy volunteers to help answer research questions. Some studies may recruit patients previously diagnosed with the investigatory disease or illness.

  4. Making an informed decision to participate in any study, someone will explain the study to you. A satisfactory response to your questions is required in the informed consent process.

  5. Your safety and privacy is our utmost priority. Researchers diligently follow detailed protocols and the FDA's safety requirements to ensure each trial is as safe as possible, instilling a sense of trust and security in you. 

    • The Institutional Review Board (IRB)

      1. IRB approval must proceed with the start of any human subject survey or research study. IRB oversight continues throughout the research study to ensure that a proposed protocol meets the appropriate ethical guidelines to protect study participants.

        If you were recruited by EHAN to participate in a research study or clinical trial and have some concerns, please reach out to EHAN immediately.

Why are we focusing on CLINICAL TRIALS to advance health equity?

EHAN understands the causality for inequities is multifactorial. The restorative practices as we advance health equity are multifaceted.

There are some diagnostic tools, including lab (blood) tests, that must be revised to diagnose diseases in dark-skinned people effectively. Here are two of the reasons:

  1. In clinical situations, particularly in the Emergency Department, a pulse oximeter is placed on a patient's finger to assess the percentage of oxygen in the blood (oxygenation). The heart requires oxygen to transport blood to our lungs and throughout our body. Pulse oximeters may read higher in African American/Black patients, leading to an incorrect diagnosis of respiratory or cardio disease. During the recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, Black patients not admitted for disease management because of these inadequate readings are attributed to a disproportionately higher mortality rate.

  2. Obesity, hypertension (high blood pressure), Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), and cardiovascular (heart disease) may contribute to chronic kidney disease (nephrology) or kidney failure when not sufficiently controlled. More than any other race, the African American/Black population is at a higher risk for kidney disease, failure, and death associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The prevalence of social determinants of health (SDOH) contributes to CKD along with historical discrimination that prohibited more aggressive treatment, resulting in disproportionate and high mortality, "Kidney transplant is the optimal treatment with ESRD (end-stage renal disease), yet Black patients are less likely to be referred for transplant, and once on the list, wait longer than their white counterparts. A recent study at Brigham and Women's Hospital showed that removing the race coefficient would reclassify 3.1% of Black patients from eGFR > 20 mL/min/1.73 m2 to eGFR ≤ 20 mL/min/1.73 m2, making them eligible for a transplant referral."  (Ahmed, et al 2021) Physicians not referring Black patients for a kidney transplant explains the plethora of dialysis centers in Black and Latinx communities. The race coefficient is now adjusted or removed, increasing the number of Black patients referred for a kidney transplant. 

Reference:
Ahmed, S., Nutt, C. T., Eneanya, N. D., Reese, P. P., Sivashanker, K., Morse, M., et al.Mendu, M. L. (2021, February). Examining the potential impact of race multiplier utilization in estimated glomerular filtration rate calculation on African American care outcomes. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 36(2), 464–471. 10.1007/s11606-020-06280-5