To Achieve Wide Participation, Every Aspect of Clinical Trials Needs Rethinking, Says Expert

Increasing cultural and ethnic diversity in Alzheimer’s clinical trials is a must — but it’s going to take a complete rethinking of the way these studies are recruited, conducted, and analyzed, said a Fordham University psychology professor speaking at an Alzheimer’s conference.

Monica Rivera-Mindt, speaking at the Clinical Trials in Alzheimer’s Disease meeting in Boston, said that the good news is that trialists are keying into this challenge, and new empirical data prove that community engagement from study leaders does increase the enrollment of groups that have traditionally shied away from participation.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, whites comprise most of the more than 5 million diagnosed Alzheimer’s patients in the U.S., but the disease is twice as common in Blacks and about 1.5 times as common in Hispanics. Fewer than 5 percent of Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials comprise Blacks or Hispanics, according to a 2022 study.

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