Equitable Breakthroughs in Medicine Development (EQBMED), a collaborative partnership dedicated to expanding clinical trial participation among communities of color and rural populations, today announced the selection of the final four clinical trial sites of the learning phase:
- Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- Health 360x bringing in 35 additional sites across 14 states (Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia)
- Southside Medical Center, in collaboration with Ocean Management Services, in Atlanta, Georgia
- University of Alabama at Birmingham Minority Health & Health Equity Research Center in Birmingham, Alabama
With this expansion, EQBMED builds on its mission to address barriers to clinical trial participation, including limited access to trial sites, historical mistrust, misinformation, and lack of information. Led by Yale School of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, the Research Centers in Minority Institutions Coordinating Center (RCMI-CC) at Morehouse School of Medicine, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, this initiative reflects a focused, community-centered commitment to making clinical trials accessible and sustainable.
“Health 360x’s integration of technology, deep community ties, and focus on workforce capacity building aligns seamlessly with EQBMED’s mission,” said Peter Embí, MD, MS, FACP, FACMI, FIAHSI, EQBMED Network Partner Leader and Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Medicine, Chair of Biomedical Informatics, and Senior Vice-President for Research and Innovation at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “By expanding our clinical trial network and engaging the communities they serve, we can foster greater diversity in clinical research.”