Currently, only 4 percent of people who participate in a clinical trial are Black and 5 percent are Hispanic. On this episode of the Bench to Bedside podcast, Dr. Roy Jensen, vice chancellor and director of The University of Kansas Cancer Center, speaks with Dr. Tara Lin, medical director of the cancer center’s Clinical Trial Office, and Dr. Ronald Chen, Chair and professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Kansas School of Medicine and associate director for Health Equity at the cancer center, about why diversity in clinical trials is important to the health of our region, and what The University of Kansas Cancer Center is doing to give all communities access. Ullyses Wright, a member of the cancer center’s patient research advocacy group (PIVOT) and cancer prevention clinical trial participant, also joins the conversation to share his perspective as a leader in the Kansas City African American community.

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Links from this episode:

• Learn more about clinical trials at KU Cancer Center: https://www.kucancercenter.org/cancer-clinical-trials
• Learn more about the need for diversity in clinical trials: https://www.kucancercenter.org/yourvoice
• Learn more about the KU Cancer Center clinical trials finder app, available for download on Apple and Android: https://www.kucancercenter.org/news-room/news/2023/02/clinical-trial-finder-application-adds-patient-friendly-feature
• Clinical Trials - Why Diversity Matters video: https://youtu.be/vDnsFKd4alE
• KU Cancer Center uses art to raise awareness about access to clinical trials: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnQkN-JnS_8
• Learn more about KU Cancer Center’s patient research advocacy group, PIVOT: https://www.kucancercenter.org/research/give-back/patient-research-advocacy
• Dr. Tara Lin shares the five things you may not know about clinical trials on the KU Cancer Center blog: https://www.kucancercenter.org/news-room/blog/2021/09/five-things-you-may-not-know-about-clinical-trials  
• Dr. Ronald Chen shares efforts to eliminate cancer health disparities in Kansas and beyond: https://www.kucancercenter.org/research/transformative-research/beyond-the-bench/2020/leading-the-way