FasterCures is advancing system change within biomedical research to focus on and value diversity and representation within clinical trials and the workforce. In addition to our “Achieving Health Equity” report, we released a Policy Issue Brief, “A Call to Action for Diversity in Clinical Trials” that highlights current and proposed legislation and federal regulations with recommendations to reform an unequal research ecosystem. 

As part of our ongoing commitment to this work, FasterCures hosted the first-ever Milken Institute Health Equity Forum in collaboration with the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. We convened leaders in biomedical research, community-based organizations, and health care, together with local and national policy stakeholders, to discuss lessons from the past to the present, and to define rigorous solutions to ensure a more equitable future is implemented across the health and biomedical research ecosystem.

This policy issue brief summarizes the forum’s key takeaways, including four pivotal issues and recommendations for action to center health as a civil right and best practices and local examples that can inform broader action in other regions across the country.