As elegantly discussed by Tate and Goldstein, health disparities among individuals of different ancestries can be reduced by making medicines more inclusive.65 This should be achieved by conducting pharmacogenetics research in populations of diverse ancestral background and by increasing the diversity of clinical trial enrollment. Further, it is important to consider ancestral and genetic background of the individual as it remains unclear what factors are primarily contributing to drug response whether it be genetics, environmental correlates of drug response within a specific population, or their interaction.65 Additionally, laboratory experimental psychopathology studies that examine genetic moderators of pharmacotherapeutic response during alcohol administration, behavioral economics, alcohol cue, and stress reactivity paradigms are largely absent in ethnic minority populations, with a few exceptions.47, 49 Conducting these studies would advance research aimed at understanding the mechanisms by which specific genetic alleles moderate the response to pharmacotherapies for AUD, which could in turn inform clinical trials of AUD treatments among different racial and ethnic populations. These goals for inclusive healthcare should be addressed in pharmacogenetics research and clinical trials of individuals with AUD.
