The currents of the racial justice movement and the Covid-19 pandemic have amplified persistent and pernicious disparities in access and outcomes across so many aspects of American life, including cancer care.

Many people are aware of the dire — and disproportionate — consequences that Covid-19 has had on the Latinx and Black American communities. New research shows that newly diagnosed Black cancer patients are at a higher risk of severe Covid-19 than white patients.

According to a 2019 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, one in 1,000 Black males can expect to die at the hands of the police. Black males were also 2.5 times more likely to die during an encounter with police than white males. For some, those figures are staggering. For many others, they are reminders of the racial disparities that have existed for far too long in this country.

So, in 2020, when recent events have brought racial injustice back into the national spotlight, it is important to take a closer look at all aspects of life where inequities exist – and not just in the criminal justice system.

How are clinical trials with increased patient diversity leading to more successful treatments? While industry progress towards diverse clinical trials has been slow, there are many inspiring cases where more inclusive patient populations have been used to provide effective treatments for the communities that need them. How can early development of sound clinical and ethical expectations for a trial drive better outcomes? What difference does it make to apply business intelligence and analytics to the challenges of diversity? Join this discussion with industry experts to learn how a trial sponsor or CRO makes this work.

“It’s unfortunate that racial inequality in healthcare [and cancer research] has been around for decades, and it’s something that only recently has come back into the forefront because of the pandemic,” Whyte says in our December 8, 2020 conversation. “I’ve been pleased to see a number of institutions this year start to do something about it,” he adds. Whyte also discusses his own initiatives in the field trying to address cancer care inequities through education and outreach.