SCRS Launches Diversity Awareness Program

ELLICOTT CITY, Md., June 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society for Clinical Research Sites (SCRS) has recently launched an innovative new program, "Site Awareness and Best Practices for Inclusion of Diverse Populations in Research." The program is aimed at developing a better understanding of the knowledge, expertise, and best practices at clinical research sites to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse United States population and to provide knowledge and solutions to aide sites in more successfully including the diverse patients in clinical research.

The project has been advocated for and is being sponsored by: Merck as the Premier Supporting Sponsor, Janssen, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) as Contributors, and Acurian at the Patron level. Additional collaboration is being provided by the FDA from both the Office of Women's and Minority Health.

This diversity awareness program was created to support efforts by research sites to meet the goals of the FDA's Action Plan to Enhance the Collection and Availability of Demographic Subgroup Data. The FDA's plan prioritizes improvements in the quality of demographic subgroup data collection, reporting and analysis, encourages greater participation of diverse patients, and supports the transparency of subgroup data.

"We know that clinical trials often fail to recruit diverse patients in sufficient numbers for subgroup analysis," said Christine Pierre, President of SCRS. "Our members include sites with innovative and successful diverse patient recruitment programs, and SCRS is in a unique position to gather and share the best practices from all sites."

To find out more about becoming a sponsor of this program, contact Diana Foster, Vice President of Strategy and Development of SCRS, at [email protected].

About SCRS
SCRS is a global trade organization founded in 2012 which represents over 4,000 research sites in over 45 countries. SCRS' mission is to unify the voice of the global clinical research site community for greater site sustainability. SCRS has become an active partner in industry-wide initiatives and dialogues focused on improving clinical research enterprise. Sites and the companies the sponsor or support the work conducted at clinical research sites will benefit from membership and partnership. Our Voice. Our Community. Your Success. Join the community and collaborate with the Global Experts in Site Sustainability. Visit MySCRS.org.

SOURCE Society for Clinical Research Sites