It’s vitally important that LGBTQ people are included in health research. This means that we feel welcome, safe, and respected at every point of interaction during and after the research is conducted. It also means that sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data is collected and utilized to understand the needs of our community.
I am thankful to the team I’ve been working with at the Multi-Regional Clinical Trials (MRCT) Center of Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard University, which just launched the LGBTQIA+ Inclusion by Design in Clinical Research toolkit and resources (version 2.0). It includes resources for research teams, institutional review boards (IRBs), and pharmaceutical sponsors to use to make sure that every aspect of their study is inclusive of LGBTQ individuals. It also includes tools for LGBTQ folks themselves to use when deciding whether or not to participate in a study as well as navigating the study and providing feedback.
I’ve been both a participant of clinical research – most memorably, part of an NIH study to find an HIV vaccine – and have lead work around inclusion – most recently, by working on LGBTQ community engagement for the All of Us research program, a massive NIH program to gather comprehensive health information from 1 million diverse individuals. It goes without saying that health research in general, and in particular that which seeks to address health inequities, is in a very tenuous spot right now. That makes this new toolkit from MRCT all the more important.
Including LGBTQ people in research doesn’t mean excluding anyone else. It doesn’t mean prioritizing one population over the other. It doesn’t mean putting some ideological goal over “gold standard science.” What it does mean is that we’re getting the best research possible, saving lives, and ultimately having a more productive and healthy society for everyone – because health research happens to get a great return on investment.
Check out the resource and if you have friends in colleagues in the research field, please share. Thanks to MRCT for inviting me to be part of this process and for your leadership on this issue!
–Corey
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