Diversity in Clinical and Biomedical Research: A Promise Yet to Be Fulfilled
PLoS Medicine, 15 December 2015
Summary Points
- Health disparities persist across race/ethnicity for the majority of Healthy People 2010 health indicators.
- Most physicians and scientists are informed by research extrapolated from a largely homogenous population, usually white and male.
- A growing proportion of Americans are not fully benefiting from clinical and biomedical advances since racial and ethnic minorities make up nearly 40% of the United States population.
- Ignoring the racial/ethnic diversity of the US population is a missed scientific opportunity to fully understand the factors that lead to disease or health.
- US biomedical research and study populations must better reflect the country’s changing demographics. Adequate representation of diverse populations in scientific research is imperative as a matter of social justice, economics, and science.
