Partly like it’s 1747!
I stress ‘partly’. Today’s clinical trials are evolving apace – perhaps more in the last four years than the previous four centuries.
The frst ofcial clinical trial unfolded in 1747, under the gaze of James Lind. He was concerned about the scourge of scurvy and thus analysed a cohort of patients, in an attempt to establish an efective therapy for the wider population. It was a landmark moment for mankind and became the touchpaper for frenetic probing, pondering and pontifcation as trials became the norm.
It was a bold move by the Homo sapien species to advance a new realm of existential curiosity – leaving their predecessors and, indeed, the rest of the animal kingdom in the dust. Humans were no longer accepting the hand they had been dealt – they wanted to alter the deck.
Clinical trials, however, have rarely been a true refection of society or the subgroups therein that most require input into research. Too often participation has been overwhelmingly white, male and middle class or designed for people who can navigate mind-boggling inconvenience.
Leveraging the potential of trials is about upholding diversity and inclusivity – increasing representation among diferent ethnicities, sexualities, backgrounds, religions, socio-economic statuses and geographical locations.
All these factors are part of a wider reboot of which James Lind would surely approve. Patients are becoming the stakeholders and experts in their own future.
We are the most gifted species in the history of the universe – but proving it is a gift we must never take for granted.
Enjoy the magazine!
