Advancing Clinical Research Diversity With Dr. Richard Zuniga
Takeda Pharmaceuticals sponsored an event at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Bay Shore for Dr. Richard Zuniga, a medical oncologist-hematologist and the Medical Chief of Research at New York Cancer & Blood Specialists (NYCBS), to speak to the Spanish community on the importance of clinical trials. Clinical trials are research studies involving human volunteers to evaluate medical products like medications, vaccines, or devices for safety and effectiveness, especially important in cancer care new treatments.
Ensuring people from diverse backgrounds join clinical trials is key to advancing health equity. Often, people from racial and ethnic minorities and other diverse groups are underrepresented in clinical research. This is a concern because people of different ages, races, and ethnicities may react differently to certain treatments. For example, different genetic makeups vary by race and understanding how treatments affect individuals is key to tailoring specific treatment options.
Clinical trials offer new, cutting-edge treatment options for patients of any age, at any stage of their diagnosis. Clinical trials are not only for relapsed patients or those who are not responding to other treatments. Clinical trials are highly regulated. Patients enrolled in clinical trials are monitored closely by the trial doctor and other members of their medical team. Clinical trials can give you access to the latest cancer treatments, but it can be overwhelming to find and enroll in trials on your own, often leaving you with more questions than answers.
The church decided to merge its morning service and Mass into a single event for the engagement, followed by lunch and Dr. Zuniga's presentation. The gathering attracted a crowd of over 200 individuals, comprising both 80 regular church attendees and others who participated through the Facebook livestream. The attendees had the opportunity to engage in a Q&A session, and a survey conducted afterward revealed that 90% of respondents found the event beneficial. There are upcoming plans for further involvement, aiming to extend these engagements to additional communities and provide education to diverse populations about the significance of clinical trials.
At NYCBS, our Clinical Research Team is an extension of your healthcare team, personally assisting you through every step of the clinical trial process. We thoroughly assess your current and past medical history to determine which trials might fit you. We also help with non-clinical factors that may affect your participation in a trial, such as geographic, financial, or social considerations.