We are helping shape the future of clinical trials by ensuring they are more diverse, inclusive and equitable.
Improving diverse representation
Our global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Clinical Trials (DEICT) team works to embed DEI at every stage of the clinical trial process.
Innovative Medicine
In 2023, 84% of our actively recruiting clinical studies were on track with their enrollment goals for diverse patients, as planned in their diversity action plans. We have created diversity action plans across clinical trials in all therapeutic areas; 26 diversity actions plans were submitted to the FDA in 2023. Further, we expanded tracking progress against our goals with an internal DEICT Dashboard, allowing study teams to monitor enrollment goals to ensure a representative patient population. J&J engages in several community partnerships to enhance trial recruitment of Black, indigenous and people of color. We work with Acclinate, a digital healthcare company, to engage with multiple online communities on Acclinate’s #nowincluded platform that has subscribed more than 100,000 members within Black communities in the U.S. To identify key communities in which patients reside, we work with advocacy groups such as the Lupus Research Alliance, and community-based organizations, such as Black Health Matters. These groups raise awareness of clinical research opportunities among their communities, providing information to help patients and caregivers make informed decisions on their healthcare treatments.
We continue to leverage our Research Includes Me website, connecting patients to current trials and partners with advocacy groups with an aim to boost diverse representation in clinical trials through diverse site selection and patient recruitment. As of 2023, more than 80% of J&J clinical trials with diversity enrollment goals achieved their targets. In 2023, the Research Includes Me website was refreshed and broadened its reach to LGBTQIA+ individuals, older adults and people who are pregnant, or may become pregnant, in addition to the original focus on Black and brown communities. We reached thousands of patients with Research Includes Me mobile units, educating patients about clinical trials in their communities and at local healthcare events.
Inclusion and diversity are essential in medical research to ensure that scientific results accurately reflect the broader population. By breaking down barriers and improving access to research and clinical trials, we are paving the way for equitable healthcare solutions and better health outcomes for all communities.”
MedTech
Our MedTech teams advance initiatives to improve representation in clinical research and drive innovation and growth to serve patients of all backgrounds. In 2023, J&J MedTech engaged with the MedTech Color Collaborative by participating in committees shaping the organization’s DEI activities in clinical trial research and product development. For example, the Recruitment and Retention Subcommittee developed best practices resources for recruitment and retention of minority patients, and the Disease State Awareness Subcommittee launched the Heart-to-Heart Program with the goal of removing structural barriers that lead to health disparities in the care and treatment of women of color. In addition, J&J MedTech supported the MedTech Color Collaborative and the Heart-to-Heart Program by providing transportation vouchers to help women attend their medical appointments to improve access to healthcare. Additionally, the MedTech DEI in Clinical Research program, a multiyear effort designed to increase patient access, moved forward with pilot programs to engage and recruit Black, indigenous and people of color patients into our AFib clinical trials.
Boosting equity in eye care
J&J Vision addresses the gap of diversity and cultural representation in the eye care field and commits resources across optometry and ophthalmology to positively impact eye health in under-resourced communities. For example:
- J&J supports the Rabb-Venable Excellence in Ophthalmology Program which provides opportunities for medical students, residents and fellows who are underrepresented in medicine or who desire to work in under-resourced communities. The program is committed to diagnosing, preventing, and treating the many sight-threatening diseases that affect minority patients and the general population.
- To help increase female leadership in the ophthalmology community, where representation is currently just 20%,15 J&J Vision published key findings from its Women in Ophthalmology survey, revealing barriers faced by more than 100 female ophthalmologists in their educational and professional journey, with the goal of empowering more women to pursue the field.
J&J was the first major eye health company to sign The 13% Promise, an initiative created by nonprofit Black EyeCare Perspective, to create and sustain a standard of equality that will improve and increase representation of Blacks and African Americans in optometry to more closely align with their representation in the U.S. population.
Advancing women in orthopaedics
There is a recognized lack of women physicians in the orthopaedics profession and specifically within orthopaedic surgery: Only 15% of orthopaedic residents in the U.S. are female.16 In 2023, our internal J&J MedTech-led Women of Orthopaedics initiative, which spotlights and supports J&J MedTech women specializing in orthopaedics, engaged with leading professional associations to motivate awareness and action to increase gender diversity in this important profession.
15 Women in Ophthalmology (WIO), “Homepage,” wioonline.org, accessed February 2024.
16 Van Heest A.E., Agel J., Samora J.B., “A 15-Year Report on the Uneven Distribution of Women in Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Training Programs in the United States,” JBJS Open Access, 6(2):e20.00157, April-June 2021, https://journals.lww.com/jbjsoa/Fulltext/2021/06000/A_15_Year_Report_on_the_Uneven_Distribution_of.10.aspx, accessed March 2023.
