Centre to help set new vision for health studies

A CENTRE known for championing a focus on ethnicity in clinical research has been asked by the government for help to improve diversity and inclusion.

The Department of Health and Social Care has laid out a vision for the future of clinical research across the nation.

It said it will work closely with centres of excellence such as the Centre for Black and Minority Ethnic Health, in Leicester, to ensure there will be “more support for research in more diverse and under-served communities”.

Professor Kamlesh Khunti, director of the centre and professor of primary care diabetes and vascular medicine at the University of Leicester, said: “We’re honoured our work has been noticed by the Department of Health and Social Care.

“I and the team are looking forward to incorporating what we do on to a national scale, embracing and including all the different cultures we have in the UK into our research.

“Over the course of the pandemic, the centre has been at the forefront of highlighting the associations between Covid-19 and disproportionate outcomes in ethnic minority populations.

“We’re pleased that diversity and inclusion are on the national agenda and we look forward to helping support national research in diverse and underserved communities.”

The centre will be changing its nameafter the UK government, health organisations and recent research deemed the acronyms Bame – black, Asian, and minority ethnic – and BME (black and minority ethnic) inappropriate for use in future research and other literature or media.