The lack of diversity in health research threatens the process of medical science and the future of the healthcare industry. Researchers have long struggled to represent all groups equally in clinical research studies, something the Covid-19 pandemic helped highlight with infection and deaths rates higher for certain racial and socioeconomic classes. For example, one study showed that non-Hispanic Black people account for 34% of Covid-19 deaths, even though they only make up 12% of the population.

While the pandemic highlighted this inequity, it also provided a potential solution. Diseases impact different populations while drugs and other treatments work differently on each person. The pandemic helped accelerate the concept of precision medicine, a data-intensive process to customize care based on a person’s genetic profile. To make precision medicine and other similar initiatives work, researchers need more data on underrepresented populations.

Read more at MedCity News.

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Recruiting and retaining participants for clinical research — let alone those that represent diverse populations — has historically been a major challenge that negatively impacts all of us. Just the cost of losing and replacing participants in research trials can rack up thousands to millions of dollars per trial. In 2019, the average participant dropout rate for late-stage research trials was around 19.1% globally according to recent research results, up from 15.3% in 2012.

But the cost of enrolling and maintaining diverse research participants in medical research cuts deeper than wasted funds and often disproportionally excludes the most vulnerable, unrepresented members of our society. In 2014, some 86% of participants in clinical trials listed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration were white. The results of a 2021 study show that white individuals accounted for 77.9% of participants in vaccine clinical trials run in the U.S. between 2011 and 2020.

Read more at Forbes.

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The Covid-19 pandemic brought to light the glaring disparities that exist in marginalized populations when it comes to the ability to achieve appropriate health care and achieve positive health outcomes.

While Covid-19 affected every person, it hurt people of color and those in rural areas at disproportionately higher rates.

Technology has the ability to address some of these concerns that have been shown during coverage of the systematic issues and other contributing factors to these challenges. Technology already exists in many forms that can reduce the impact of Covid-19 in marginalized communities, but it has largely been overlooked.

Read more at MedCity News.

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American Revolutionary War lore about the midnight ride of Paul Revere may not have gotten everything exactly right. Revere may have warned fellow patriots about the advance of British troops. However, he may not have shouted: “The British are coming! The British are coming!”

Still, Revere definitely played a major role in another American Revolution — the creation of public health. He was introduced to the concept of quarantine when one of his children contracted smallpox, a scourge of his time. He locked down his silversmith business and was forced to isolate his family to squelch the spread of smallpox. A white flag and a guard were posted outside his home on a Boston wharf to stop the spread of smallpox.

Read the full article on Forbes.

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There has been quite a bit of hype over the last several years about how artificial intelligence (AI) would transform health care. Translating the predictive power of AI algorithms into research methods and clinical practice, however, has proved challenging, which inevitably leads to disillusionment. But rather than getting frustrated with AI and machine learning, I would argue that strategic and ethical deployment of artificial intelligence will, by necessity, be central to the success of precision health research over the next decade.

Several factors are coming together to make AI more critical to progress. One is that the sheer volume of data being generated by electronic health records, medical device data, genomics, biospecimens, imaging and digital health apps has expanded far beyond human capabilities to analyze it. Because the amount of data and the number of data sources has exploded, it’s becoming very difficult to derive further value based on standard methods of analysis.

Read the full article on Forbes.

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Shouldering heavy responsibility in a fast-moving industry, tech leaders often leverage different tools to manage their day-to-day professional and personal lives. These can include services, resources or hardware that help them manage their workloads, keep up with the news, stay connected or even manage their health.

Not surprisingly, many tech professionals try out a variety of software, apps and tools before settling on those that prove to be real game-changers for them. And having been put through their paces by tech leaders, many of these resources are likely to bring benefits to people in a variety of industries and roles. 

So what resources do some of the tech industry’s top professionals rely on every day? Below, 15 leaders from Forbes Technology Council share the tools and services they use to make both their work and personal lives easier.

Read more at Forbes.

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The online marketplace never closes. These days, if your business is to succeed at engaging and keeping customers, it’s essential that the public be able to shop with, learn about and interact with your company 24/7. And since more consumers than ever are using their phones as their primary devices, a well-designed mobile app is a must.

Designing an effective mobile app isn’t an easy feat, though. A well-designed app not only enables consumers to complete transactions, gather information and contact your business but also has an easy-to-navigate interface that doesn’t frustrate users and features that assure them their personal information is protected. 

Developing a mobile app that allows users to easily accomplish what they want to do will keep them coming back to the app—and your business—for more. Below, 15 tech industry experts from Forbes Technology Council share must-have features of a successful, user-friendly mobile app.

Read more at Forbes.

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Lack of diversity has been a longstanding shortcoming in health research. That lack has not only failed underrepresented groups in the past but also threatens the progress of medical science and the healthcare industry in the future. The Covid-19 pandemic spotlighted those disparities — with infection and death rates higher for certain racial and socioeconomic groups. In one study, for example, non-Hispanic Black people made up 34% of deaths from Covid-19 even though they made up only 12% of the population.

At the same time, the pandemic has shown how the medical research community could use technology to reduce such inequities. Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in research is key to precision medicine. As Covid-19 sadly demonstrated, different populations are impacted differently by disease. Drugs and treatments also have different impacts on people, depending on genetic and other factors. Technology has an important role to play in identifying those differences and speeding precision treatments and drugs to market.

Read more at Forbes.

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Tech leaders take note of and value the work that all their developers do. However, it’s easy for experienced leaders to spot those devs who have developed habits that make both their work and that of their teammates easier. If everyone on the team picks up the healthy habits displayed by top performers, the entire team can work faster, avoid errors, communicate clearly and create products that truly benefit the end-user.

So what helpful habits do tech leaders value among their team members? Below, 12 experts from Forbes Technology Council share the attitudes and practices that prevail among their top performers and why they’re so positive.

Read more at Forbes.

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