Funding Cuts Threaten Diversity in Clinical Research

In a recent video interview with Applied Clinical Trials, Kyle McAllister, co-founder, CEO, Trially, discussed the impact of funding cuts on underrepresented populations in medical research, emphasizing the importance of diversity-focused research. He highlighted the challenges created by budget cuts, particularly in patient recruitment and retention, due to reduced support staff. McAllister noted that artificial intelligence (AI) and new technologies like telemedicine are crucial for addressing these challenges by automating tasks and improving efficiency. He provided examples of AI's success in reducing chart review time and increasing patient enrollment in studies.

ACT: How have the funding cuts for clinical trials impacted underrepresented populations in medical research?

McAllister: I won't pretend to be a deep expert in the intricacies of this one, but I don't think it takes a deep expert to know that these cuts are going to be a major step back for important medical research. I don't see a way that walking back diversity requirements, walking back funding for research focused on diversity doesn't have a long-term impact. For example, my life before clinical research was in the population health and value-based care world, and funding cuts in this space make it significantly harder to conduct research on health disparities. Things like social determinants of health that we spend a bunch of time on in that pop health space, and that has a huge impact on research. Over the past couple of decades, since I've even been in in the healthcare industry, I think we've seen a ton of progress in just an understanding of how things like housing, food access, education, transportation, income shape your health outcomes, but also shape the way that you can even access health care, including clinical trials. I just think that real progress comes from focusing on structural changes in those spaces. I really worry that the kind of research that the NIH and that government is funding is that more like complex, long-term in the community type of research. Unfortunately, that's the type of research with these budget cuts that is probably the first thing on the cutting block, so I worry a lot about that. Without direct investment in research into those diverse populations, addressing those real-world barriers to care, I think we really risk putting those populations further behind and increasing the care gap between the folks that aren't in those underrepresented populations and those that are.