Rebecca Johnson, PhD

The second of a two-part perspective examining why clinical trial enrollment and representation outcomes are shaped long before the first patient is screened.

In this Q&A, Adrelia Allen, executive director of clinical trial patient diversity at Merck, discusses how the company is embedding diversity into clinical trial execution—from protocol design and site selection to long-term community engagement that extends well beyond individual trial timelines.

In this conversation between Rebecca Johnson, PhD, ACT EAB member and clinical research recruitment and inclusion executive and strategist; and Adrelia Allen, executive director of clinical trial patient diversity at Merck, Allen describes how improving representation has changed trial design and site selection at Merck, where the hardest barriers remain, and what the industry will need to sustain meaningful progress over the next five years.

In this conversation between Rebecca Johnson, PhD, ACT EAB member and clinical research recruitment and inclusion executive and strategist; and Adrelia Allen, executive director of clinical trial patient diversity at Merck, Allen explains how Let's Talk Trials was designed to address gaps in clinical trial awareness and access, what differentiates it from earlier efforts, and how trust sits at the center of the initiative's approach.

In this conversation between Rebecca Johnson, PhD, ACT EAB member and clinical research recruitment and inclusion executive and strategist; and Adrelia Allen, executive director of clinical trial patient diversity at Merck, Allen discusses how diversity in clinical trials has become embedded in how Merck designs and executes its studies, and what accountability looks like internally across trial planning and community engagement.

In this first part of a 2-part perspective, clinical trial recruitment failures are reframed as design outcomes, making the case for embedding enrollment feasibility into protocol governance from the start.

Amid mounting political and legal pressure, corporate DEI efforts, particularly in life sciences, are largely holding steady, with leadership, boards, and shareholders continuing to frame inclusion as a strategic driver of innovation, performance, and representative clinical research.

Although DEI remains a core tenet in pharma, strategies and goals have been reframed to align with the evolving political climate.

Advancing more inclusive and representative clinical trials through action and accountability.

Examining the implications of the recent US executive orders concerning diversity, equity, and inclusion pursuits—and the key questions each clinical trial stakeholder must now navigate.