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Not a spectator sport: improving participation of Black patients in cardiovascular clinical trials

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Representation of Black patients in cardiovascular clinical trials remains dismally low, reflective of systemic and structural barriers, which can lead to missed opportunities to meet community-identified needs, understand responses to medical therapies and improve cardiovascular care. Innovative, multilevel strategies focused on Black communities are warranted to increase enrolment of this population into clinical research.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Mathias Lalika (Mayo Clinic, USA) for his editorial assistance and assistance with the preparation of Box 1. L.C.B. was supported by the AHA Second Century Implementation Science award (grant 23SCISA1144689), the Robert A. Winn Career Development award (Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation), the NIH and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (grant P50MD017342), and the clinical and translational science awards (grant UL1 TR000135) from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) to the Mayo Clinic. J.J.J. was supported by the AHA Strategically Focused Research Network award (23SFRNCCS1052486), an NIH grant (R01DK132403), an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality grant (R01HS028822), and the clinical and translational science awards (UM1TR004548) from NCATS to The Ohio State University. The contents of this article are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NCATS or NIH. The funding bodies had no role in the writing of the manuscript, nor in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

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Correspondence to LaPrincess C. Brewer.

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Brewer, L.C., Joseph, J.J. Not a spectator sport: improving participation of Black patients in cardiovascular clinical trials. Nat Rev Cardiol 21, 67–68 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-023-00978-9

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