Virtual Education Series:
From Researcher to Patient - Making Clinical Trials More Diverse
Overall Project Goal
This 10-part virtual program series provides an in-depth exploration and review of diversity in clinical trials in the U.S. According to the FDA, African Americans and Hispanics comprise only 8% and 11% of clinical trial participants in the U.S., while comprising 13% and 19% of the total U.S. population. CHI’s educational series will convene many of the country’s leading clinical trial and diversity experts, physicians, scholars, researchers, authors, and key opinion leaders to explore the factors that have led to the historical and current underrepresentation of BIPOC patients in U.S. clinical trials.
In collaboration with members from the AGREED workgroup (AGREEDementia.org), this educational series also provides best practices, new clinical and research insights, and novel trends in building a more diverse and inclusive clinical trial and research ecosystem in the U.S. The series includes the following virtual panels and fireside chats:
January 4: Microaggressions and Implicit Biases in Healthcare
February 3: Understanding Health Literacy for Clinical Research Enrollment
March 3: How the Prevalence of Chronic Diseases Impacts Clinical Research
April 7: The Intersection of Genetics & Cancer in Clinical Trials
June 2: Health Equity Concerns of Decentralized Clinical Trials
September 1: Increasing Diversity among Principal Investigators & the Clinical Trial Community
October 20: Engaging Historically Underrepresented Asian Communities in Clinical Trials
October 27: Engaging Historically Underrepresented Hispanic Communities in Clinical Trials
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.
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