Abbott Supports Women as One’s CLIMB Research Initiative to Increase Diversity in Cardiology Trials

May 11, 2022—Abbott announced a new partnership with Women as One to launch CLIMB Research, a program designed to train more female and underrepresented physicians in cardiology to pursue clinical trial research and help recruit clinical trial participants from historically underrepresented groups.

As noted in the Abbott press release, Women as One is a nonprofit organization with the mission to promote talent in medicine by providing women physicians with unique professional opportunities. Women as One was founded in 2019 by Roxana Mehran, MD, and Marie-Claude Morice, MD. With support from Abbott, Women as One seeks to train physicians to help close the gaps and overcome the existing barriers to clinical trial participation, including lack of trust, lack of access, lack of understanding, and lack of a common language.

As outlined in Abbott’s press release, CLIMB Research will be comprised of six monthly sessions that include a mix of instruction, case reviews, and group discussions. Participants in the CLIMB Research skills training program will receive:

• Global connection among underrepresented physicians.  They will learn new skills, expand their networks and increase visibility with industry partners.
• In-depth knowledge from experts in the field.  Enhanced curriculum includes renowned guest faculty and training in research such as Good Clinical Practice protocol oversight, institutional review board reporting, safety management, and practical applications in the clinical trial environment.
• A “new to research" track.  Provides skills training for physicians who are interested in pursuing clinical research.
• An “enhanced research" track.  Enhanced skills training for physicians with some knowledge and experience in clinical research.

“Women and underrepresented groups are too often absent from industry-driven activities,” commented Dr. Mehran in Abbott’s press release. “Enhancing the representation of these groups leading clinical trials will have a direct impact on the number of diverse trial participants. By advancing our training program with Abbott, we are actively increasing the number of diverse researchers in clinical trials to create a safe haven of trust to ultimately support underrepresented patients.”

Dr. Mehran is Professor of Medicine, Cardiology, and Population Health Science and Policy at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Director of the Center for Interventional Cardiovascular Research and Clinical Trials at Mount Sinai in New York, New York. In addition to being a Founding Director of Women as One, Dr. Mehran is a founder and Chief Scientific Officer of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation.

CLIMB Research 2022 is cosponsored by the Global Cardiovascular Clinical Trialists (CVCT) Forum. CVCT is an annual educational forum aimed at discussing the latest and most critical cardiovascular, cardiorenal and cardiometabolic trials. In line with the goals of CVCT to increase the number of underrepresented individuals in cardiovascular clinical trial leadership, CVCT is an active collaborator in CLIMB Research. Dr. Mehran serves as a Course Director of the CVCT Forum.

Abbott’s press release advised that the collaboration with Women as One is the latest addition to its broad corporate initiative designed to improve diversity in medical research. Abbott’s diversity-in-clinical-trials initiative was announced in November 2021. The company seeks to increase the number of diverse investigators leading trial sites. The new training program is open to underrepresented groups including female, Black, Native American, Asian, South Asian, Hispanic, and nonbinary cardiologists.

According to the company, Abbott provided funding of $150,000 for the CLIMB Research program. Additionally, the company has committed more than $5 million since 2021 to improve diversity, which includes nearly 300 scholarships to medical schools at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and minority nursing associations. The company has also established a Diversity in Clinical Trials Medical Advisory Board and dedicated funding to increase diversity enrollment within Abbott trials.

Abbott cited two studies showing the systemic underrepresentation of women and underresourced populations such as Hispanic and Black participants in clinical trials. In August 2020, “Representation in Clinical Trials: A Review on Reaching Underrepresented Populations in Research” by Isabelle Yates, et al, was published online in Clinical Researcher, a publication of the Association of Clinical Research Professionals. In May 2019, “Increasing Diversity in Clinical Trials: Overcoming Critical Barriers” was published by Luther T. Clark, MD, et al in Current Problems in Cardiology (2019;44:148-172).

In April 2022, the FDA announced new draft guidance for industry for developing plans to enroll more participants from underrepresented racial and ethnic populations in the United States into clinical trials.

In February 2022, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) announced the publication of a review that found that women remain underrepresented in leading cardiovascular clinical trials, which corresponds with underrepresentation and a lack of gender diversity among presenters at scientific meetings. The review by Mary Norine Walsh, MD, was published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology (2022;79:929-932).

In August 2021, the ACC announced the publication of a report stating that women remain underrepresented in cardiovascular clinical trials despite guidelines and legal requirements developed approximately 30 years ago to ensure broader inclusivity. “Increasing Participation of Women in Cardiovascular Trials: JACC Council Perspectives” from the ACC Cardiovascular Disease in Women Committee was published by Leslie Cho, MD, et al in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.