Webinar: Engaging Historically Underrepresented Hispanic Communities in Clinical Trials
Thursday, October 27, 2022 | 11 AM - 12 PM CST
PART 8 OF CHI’S 10-PART SERIES: FROM RESEARCHER TO PATIENT - MAKING CLINICAL TRIALS MORE DIVERSE
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
This program explores the root causes that result in the underrepresentation of Latin Americans in U.S. clinical trials. According to the FDA, Latin Americans comprised only 11% of the total clinical population for drugs approved in 2020, while Latin Americans comprise almost 19% of the total U.S. population. Furthermore, the number of Latin Americans in the U.S. is rapidly growing, and Latin Americans currently account for over half of the country's population growth. This discordance results from a variety of factors, including social determinants of health, PI and clinical trialist demographics, and cultural and linguistic pitfalls. This program Group convenes a group of clinical trial experts, providers, and DEI executives to discuss best practices and recommendations for making clinical trials more inclusive for Latin Americans.
Series Host
Dr. Neelum Aggarwal, MD
Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center at Rush University Medical Center
Dr. Neelum T. Aggarwal, MD, is the Chief Diversity Officer at American Medical Women’s Association and Associate Professor, Departments of Neurological Sciences and the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center at Rush University Medical Center. She is the Senior Neurologist for the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center (RADC), Research Director at the Rush Heart Center for Women, and serves as the Principal Investigator and Site Principal Investigator for multiple NIA funded research studies and consortia led clinical trials. Her work focuses on how sex, gender and social determinants of health are associated with risk, detection and treatment of cognitive changes associated with dementia. Dr. Aggarwal is a long-standing voice for community based research, clinical trial participation, public health initiatives, both in Chicago and nationally. She serves as the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA), and was past chair of the Governing Council of the American Medical Association- Women's Physician Section.
Currently, she co chairs the Inclusion, Diversity and Education in Alzheimer's Disease - Outreach and Policy subcommittee and the Advisory Group on Risk Evidence Education for Dementia. As the Strategic Advisor for the Science Runway, a Chicago Innovation Mentor (CIM) and past National Chair for the Women in Bio Mentoring, Advisors and Peers Committee, she is uniquely positioned to work with diverse groups of colleagues, mentor and sponsor women and men in the medical, life sciences and STEM sectors. She completed her medical degree from the Rosalind Franklin University - Chicago Medical School, completed her neurology residency at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, and completed an aging and neurodegenerative disorders fellowship at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center.
Dr. Paula S. Espinal, MD, MPH
Principal Investigator, Nicklaus Children’s Biobank
Manager, Personalized Medicine Research program.
Clinical Assistant Professor, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University
Dr. Espinal is a translational medical researcher with nine-plus years of experience in a broad range of research infrastructure, covering clinical trials, translational sciences, and genomic medicine. Dr. Espinal is a medical doctor and epidemiologist, accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks and the International Society for Biological and Environmental Repository (ISBER). She is also certified in Fundamentals of Clinical and Translational Research by The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center.
Dr. Espinal served as a Physician Scientist for the Miami Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center (SCCC), where she evaluated preclinical data and set priorities for program funding opportunities, and was an active member of the SCCC Feasibility Review Committee (FRC), the SCCC Protocol Review and Monitoring Committee (PRMC), and the Clinical Research
Dr. Espinas has worked on several projects as a sub-investigator for NIDA Clinical Trials Network Protocol CTN 0049 (Grant NO. # U10-DA13720), US Department of State-funded study (Grant # S-INLEC11GR020), Florida Department of Health ("FL DOH"), Live Like Bella Pediatric Research Initiative (8LA05), Cornelia Bailey Foundation (DSTPedCan), and Principal Investigator for Sanford Health-Nicklaus Children's Hospital Personalized Medicine Initiative, and Nicklaus Children’s Project GENES – an outreach educational program aimed to bridge the gap between medical research and local communities.
Before joining the Nicklaus Children's family, Dr. Espinal worked as Sr. Medical Officer and Epidemiologist at the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization ("WHO") – Offices in Ethiopia, Africa, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, as well as the World Health Organization in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Her research is focused on health disparities and disease characteristics associated with Population Genomics, Public Health Economics, and Sustainability models. Dr. Espinal is concentrated on translating genome-based knowledge and technologies into public health economics, health policies, and healthcare as a whole.
Dr. Antonio J. Tito, PhD
VP of Scientific Affairs, Corlexia Clinical Services
Dr. Tito has many years of experience performing advanced research in neuroscience, molecular genetics, and human genomics; unravelling the cellular and molecular underpinnings of neurodegenerative disorders, deciphering mechanistic insights of novel therapeutic interventions; assisting in the development and characterization of cellular and animal models for personalized medicine protocols; and working with clinical directors and pharma executives to optimize cost of clinical trials. He is also experienced in leading global business development efforts and strategic partnerships within the medical imaging, pharmaceutical, clinical laboratories, contract research organizations, and medical device industries. As senior associate and partner of Myer Research and scientific advisor at Inventico Creative, Dr. Tito is leading a team of preclinical experts, clinical research executives, artificial intelligence and machine learning engineers, and healthcare professionals to develop, execute, and manage business and clinical operational strategies that enable the implementation of clinical trials on cutting edge technologies, third-generation cancer and immune therapies at a fraction of the cost and in areas with ethnically diverse patient populations. Dr. Tito is leading tabletop negotiations with executives at global blue companies and has a mission to facilitate tech transfer of life saving drugs to developing nations and rural cities in the US. Dr. Tito looks forward to continuing mentoring innovators, entrepreneurs, principal investigators, founders of biotech companies, and executives from pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies. He is also keen to support the commercial integration of Latin American and Mexican innovations into the commercial ecosystem of US, Europe, and APAC regions, and vice versa. Dr. Tito attended the University of Houston-Downtown and the University of Texas Health Science, where he received a bachelor's degree in biotechnology, a master’s degree in neuroscience and a doctoral degree in Human Molecular Genetics with a concentration in neuroscience.
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