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POPULATION HEALTH NEWS
New Incentives Added to Foster Diversity in Clinical Trial Research
The American Heart Association — the world’s leading voluntary organization dedicated to a world of longer, healthier lives - has announced an additional $4 million grant to add a sixth scientific research center and bring total funding to its Strategically-Focused Research Network (SFRN) on the Science of Diversity in Clinical Trials to $24 million. The new center, led by a team of researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Morgan State University in Baltimore, is made possible through financial support from Care Access and the BRIDGE Initiative, which will also provide in-kind services to the Johns Hopkins center and to the clinical trials research network.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, and stroke is the fifth leading cause. People with better cardiovascular health are less likely to die of heart disease, stroke, and other diseases. Interventions to lower blood pressure, blood cholesterol, blood sugar, and body mass index can improve overall cardiovascular health. These interventions include strategies to help people eat healthier, get more physical activity, and quit smoking.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels. They include:
- coronary heart disease – a disease of the blood vessels supplying the heart muscle;
- cerebrovascular disease – a disease of the blood vessels supplying the brain;
- peripheral arterial disease – a disease of blood vessels supplying the arms and legs;
- rheumatic heart disease – damage to the heart muscle and heart valves from rheumatic fever, caused by streptococcal bacteria;
- congenital heart disease – birth defects that affect the normal development and functioning of the heart caused by malformations of the heart structure from birth; and
- deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism – blood clots in the leg veins, which can dislodge and move to the heart and lungs.
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Heart attacks and strokes are usually acute events and are mainly caused by a blockage that prevents blood from flowing to the heart or brain. The most common reason for this is a build-up of fatty deposits on the inner walls of the blood vessels that supply the heart or brain. Strokes can be caused by bleeding from a blood vessel in the brain or from blood clots.
The new center, “Improving Participation Among diverse populations in Cardiovascular clinical Trials (IMPACT),” is led by Erin Michos, M.D., M.H.S., FAHA, an American Heart Association volunteer and the director of women's cardiovascular health and an associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins. Payam Sheikhattari, M.D., M.P.H., the director of the Morgan CARES (Community-Aligned Research Solutions) Outreach Center will be the principal collaborator from Morgan State University, one of the nation’s most diverse Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Center researchers will conduct two projects specifically focused on identifying ways to increase participation and recruitment of people from underrepresented populations to take part in clinical research trials. The first project will involve gathering a community of people interested in becoming involved in heart disease research. The community will be called CONNECT. Researchers will seek advice from leaders and members of the local area to develop strategies to test among the CONNECT participants to improve engagement of persons of diverse backgrounds in research studies.
The second project will test different digital methods for finding persons interested in heart disease research and will include evaluations of the use of internet websites, advertisements and platforms like Facebook and Google. These tools will be tested in on-going studies by the research team.
The new center joins five others announced earlier this year. The American Heart Association established this research network to address the long-standing challenge of diversity among people participating in clinical trials for scientific and medical research. The network is the latest initiative in the Association’s unprecedented pledge to aggressively address social determinants of health while working to improve equitable health for all communities. The goal of the initiative is to identify best practices that can be easily replicated to ensure people of all races and ethnicities are fully included in medical research of all disease states.
“The American Heart Association is committed to investing in long-term solutions to ensure equitable health and care for all. We recognize the historical lack of diversity among people participating in clinical trials, especially women and people of color,” said American Heart Association volunteer President Michelle A. Albert, M.D., M.P.H., FAHA, the Walter A. Haas-Lucie Stern endowed chair in Cardiology, professor of medicine and admissions dean at University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine. “There are many barriers that reduce or inhibit the inclusion of diverse populations in clinical research. Those may include a lack of access to medical care for screenings or referrals to clinical trials; distrust of the research community; cultural and language differences; literacy and technology challenges; and the persistence of structural racism in our processes and systems. We are pleased to be able to expand this research network and look forward to the impactful knowledge and solutions that come from this important work.”
The new Johns Hopkins/Morgan State center launched in October 2022 and is funded through four years.
The American Heart Association is the largest not-for-profit funding source for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease research next to the United States government. Since 1949, the Association has invested more than $5 billion in cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and brain health research. New knowledge resulting from this funding benefits millions of lives in every corner of the U.S. and around the world.
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