RISE for Equity

Beyond Men: Gender Diversity in Medical Research

Episode Summary

As the healthcare industry works to address disparities in clinical trial participation, some Mayo Clinic doctors are trying new approaches.

Episode Notes

Sharonne Hayes, M.D., Cardiologist and Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic 

Michele Halyard, M.D., Vice Dean Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Facebook @cbbaz 

As the healthcare industry works to address disparities in clinical trial participation, some Mayo Clinic doctors are trying new approaches. In this episode, Drs. Sharonne Hayes and Michele Halyard detail the deliberate exclusion of women from these studies and the dramatic effects on health outcomes for women, from decades of misdiagnosis of heart attacks and heart disease to delayed detection of breast cancer. Encouraging more researchers to diversify their patient pool is not enough; the most successful efforts around gender equity in research and treatment have relied upon community partnerships with groups like Coalition of Blacks Against Breast Cancer. 

“The number one reason that women do not participate in clinical trials is they were never asked.” 

—Sharonne Hayes, M.D.