Advancing Diversity in Clinical Trials - TriNetX

Advancing Diversity in Clinical Trials

The benefits of research belong to all.

Or so our ideals tell us. Reality tells a different story. Systemic imbalances exclude too many people from trial opportunities on the basis of race, ethnicity, economic status, geography, or other social determinant. The exclusion may not be deliberate, but its effects are dire.

What’s the solution? More complex than any single changemaker can achieve. Drug developers, researchers, clinicians, policymakers, educators, and patient advocates all share the responsibility to achieve our ideals. TriNetX has a role to play. As a research leader, so do you.

Connect with one of our real-world data experts to discuss how TriNetX can guide your DEI efforts into ground-breaking territories.

The Need for Change

Connecting the Dots

TriNetX Diversity Solutions

Taking Action

The Need for Change

Asian-Americans represent 5.9% of the U.S. population and a mean of 1.6% of all participants in pivotal trials between 2015 and 2019.

Lolic M, Araojo R, Okeke M, Woodcock J. Racial and Ethnic Representation in US Clinical Trials of New Drugs and Biologics, 2015-2019. JAMA. 2021;326(21):2201–2203.

Black Americans make up roughly 12% of the U.S. population and a disproportionate number of new cancer cases. Yet none of the 11 novel drug approvals for cancer in 2022 were based on study cohorts that enrolled more than 8% Black participants.

Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Drug Trials Snapshots Summary Report 2022.

Latinos represent 17% of the U.S. population and yet only 6-7% of participants in clinical trials.

S. Presch. Health for All of Us: The Importance of Latino Participation in clinical trials and research. UNIDOS US Blog. 6 March 2018.

The destination is in sight, but we haven’t reached it (not yet).

Connecting the Dots

Designing inclusive clinical trials, conducting site feasibility, and connecting patients with relevant trials is a challenge — one TriNetX is committed to helping solve. See how TriNetX plays a pivotal role in bringing life science companies and healthcare organizations together for better patient outcomes.

TriNetX Diversity Solutions

From TriNetX LIVE™, real-world datasets, and expert services, we’re focusing our strengths on three areas: representative protocol design, diverse patient recruitment insights, and advanced analysis.

The barriers to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in clinical trials are multifaceted. At TriNetX, we are focused on breaking down barriers across all our solutions.

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Building Inclusive and Representative Protocol Designs

Sound experimental design necessitates representative samples and extends benefits widely. Protocols attuned to diverse patient backgrounds and RWD-informed approaches ensure generalizable results and inclusive trial participation.

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Accelerating Diverse Patient Recruitment

By making criteria “real-world ready,” our clinical analysts and study operations leaders connect you to these institutions globally, enabling faster “First Patient In” on a diverse cohort and delivering hope sooner.

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Uncovering Critical Differences in Patient Care through Advanced Data Analysis

We use advanced analytics and top epidemiology experts to deeply interrogate real-world data to reveal critical differences in access, treatment, and outcomes. 

Turning inclusion criteria into inclusive criteria


Sound experimental design requires that our samples represent the populations we want to understand. Meanwhile, a commitment to patients demands that we extend benefits, if they are discovered, as widely as possible.

Meeting both mandates starts with the right protocol. Study eligibility attuned to the health and experience of today’s patients, representing all backgrounds, let us design trials with more generalizable results. This RWD-informed approach also extends the benefits of participation to those disproportionately excluded by criteria that paint too broad a brush.

Leveraging AI to enhance diversity in clinical trials


In clinical trials, achieving diverse and representative patient populations remains a significant challenge, particularly in rare disease protocols and among populations prone to care transitions. Despite the advancements AI offers, such as improving patient recruitment and site identification, enrollment shortfalls continue to plague the industry, with nearly 80% of studies falling short of their recruitment goals.

Could AI be the key to solving this problem?

Watch our webinar to explore how AI is transforming clinical trial diversity. Delve into the potential of AI to tackle these issues and drive success in patient recruitment and site selection.

TriNetX Webinar: Optimize AI’s Role in Supporting Clinical Research

Going deep into disparities


Natural course of disease. Disease burden. Standard of care. The forms these take are as various as patients themselves. Trends at the population level can quickly fall apart under analysis by cohort, whether defined clinically or demographically. Our rich de-identified data—inclusive of race, ethnicity, and (for millions of US patients) types of insurance coverage—enable researchers to pierce the surface of the “patient profile” to reveal the critical differences in access, treatment, and outcome.

We don’t stop at gathering the data. We interrogate it, with best-in-class analytic tools and the brightest minds in epidemiology and evidence generation.

Research Spotlight:

Hentschel CBAbramoff BADillingham TRPezzin LERace, ethnicity, and utilization of outpatient rehabilitation for treatment of post COVID-19 conditionPM&R202214(11): 13151324. doi:10.1002/pmrj.12869

Research Spotlight:

Urdang, Zachary D., et al. “Federated Electronic Health Record Database via a Public-Private Partnership to Enhance Health Care Equity by Disparity Discovery and Equitable Clinical Trial Recruitment.” Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, vol. 33 no. 5, 2022, p. 124-137. Project MUSEhttps://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2022.0162.

Taking Action

As a research leader, you can bring the next chapter of history closer to our ideals—not with a gesture but a commitment to best practices. You can understand the social dimension of disease, scrutinize every protocol’s criteria, and connect with new care institutions and investigators.

But effective action starts with education. Here you will find the latest FDA guidance on diversity in trial enrollment.