For instance, blacks and Latinos make up 30% of the U.S. population but account for just 6% of all participants in federally funded clinical trials.3 A review of government-funded cancer research studies found that all racial/ethnic minorities—including Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, American Indians, and more—are considerably underrepresented in cancer clinical trials, and fewer than 2% of these studies have focused on minority health needs.6 Similarly, fewer than 5% of federally funded lung disease studies in the last 20 years have focused on people of color,2 even though black Americans are one-third more likely than whites to have asthma and over three times more likely to die from it.7
