Jennifer Adrissi, MD, MS: Bringing more diversity to Parkinson’s disease research
Black Americans make up 13.6% of the U.S. population. Yet only 1.7% of participants in Parkinson’s disease (PD) trials are Black.
“That’s a staggeringly small number,” says Jennifer Adrissi, MD, an assistant professor-in-residence of neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “Black people with PD are not only underrepresented in clinical trials – they are also more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage, and less likely to receive appropriate treatment.
“As a movement disorders neurologist, I know that this results in a lot of unnecessary suffering. My research is focused on trying to move the dial toward more equity in the field.”
Recently, Dr. Adrissi was selected through a competitive review process to receive a UCLA Faculty Career Development Award. This award will support the development of a novel assessment scale. It’s intended to help PD researchers evaluate and improve their recruitment of Black participants in clinical trials.