All posts tagged: inclusive

Scientists map a road to fairer, more inclusive drug development

Scientists map a road to fairer, more inclusive drug development

Published by Jenni Sidey

A new analysis of drug trials used to approve medicines in the United States shows how far modern medicine still has to go to serve everyone fairly. Only 6% of the clinical trials that backed new drugs between 2017 and 2023 had participants whose racial and ethnic makeup looked like the country’s own. At the same time that precision medicine promises care tailored to your genes, the science behind many new drugs still leans on a narrow slice of humanity. The work, led by researchers at UC Riverside and UC Irvine, lands at a tense moment. Hospitals and scientists talk often about equity and inclusion. Yet the data in this study tell you that many people, especially Black and Hispanic patients, still stand at the edge of the evidence. A Snapshot of Who Gets Studied The team examined 341 “pivotal” trials, the large late stage studies that companies submit to the Food and Drug Administration to win approval for new drugs. They focused on four major groups in the United States: Black, Hispanic, Asian and …

Portable food allergy device signals next step towards an inclusive food industry

Portable food allergy device signals next step towards an inclusive food industry

Published by skeptic

A new portable device can detect food allergies or gluten directly in a meal with laboratory-level precision. Unveiled by Allergen Alert, it enables people with food allergies or coeliac disease to test their food autonomously, wherever they are. Unlike barcode scanners or apps attempting to interpret a photo of a dish, this pocket-sized mini-lab relies on a patented, single-use pouch derived from bioMérieux’s laboratory technologies, which miniaturises and automates every step of a professional analytical test. The new device provides a simple, reliable, and accessible preventive solution to a major public-health challenge, marking an era in which enjoying a meal can finally mean inclusion and peace of mind. Food allergies: An invisible threat at every meal Food allergies are a growing public-health concern. 250 million people worldwide live with food allergies, and someone is admitted to the ER for a food allergy every ten seconds. In the US alone, 9% of the population (33 million people) is affected, with an additional 1% living with celiac disease. Beyond the numbers lies a deeper reality: the fear …

Revealed: Faith schools among “least inclusive” in England

Revealed: Faith schools among “least inclusive” in England

Published by Sam Flores

The National Secular Society has joined school equality campaigners in calling on the Government to review the role of faith schools in social division, after new analysis found faith schools are among the least inclusive in the country. Out of the top 200 least inclusive state-funded secondary schools in England, 38% (76) are faith schools, the analysis found. This makes faith schools the second biggest group in the top 200 after grammar schools (118, 59%). Because faith schools make up approximately 18% of secondary schools, this represents a “significant overrepresentation” of faith schools among the nation’s least inclusive schools, campaigners said. The analysis by Comprehensive Future, the National Secular Society, and TRAK found most (88%) of the faith schools in the top 200 operate faith-based admissions. In response to the findings, the Church of England told Schools week that most of its schools had “no faith selection criteria”. But the top 200 list includes 17 Church of England schools which operate religiously discriminatory policies. Only two do not; these use academic selection instead. Four schools …

Get to know Rocotito Archives, an inclusive rental fashion archive above a family’s decades-old medical scrubs shop

Get to know Rocotito Archives, an inclusive rental fashion archive above a family’s decades-old medical scrubs shop

Published by Sam Flores

Ronben wears a Vaquera top and Christian Louboutin X Maison Margiela heels. Above the Pasadena scrubs shop that has been run by the same family for decades, a fashion gold mine is growing. Take a narrow staircase above, and you’ll find Ronben, the Peruvian American stylist specializing in androgynous editorial looks, amassing their secondhand and designer collection into the archival dream that is Rocotito Archives. The door was wide open when I arrived, and Ronben was at the doorway smiling. They stood in tabis and a tailored collared shirt, their eyes framed by slick 2000s-era glasses, laughing as their overly eager curly-haired dog Duffy bounded beside them. Inside, Ronben’s mother presided over the medical wear shop that she and her family have worked in for 30 years, flanked by scrubs in Easter egg hues and playful prints. She immigrated to the U.S. from the small town of Chosica, Peru, a riverside community where Ronben was born and that she left in hopes of raising her child among more opportunities — and Ronben has certainly never …

L.A.’s best inclusive play spaces for highly sensitive and neurodivergent kids

L.A.’s best inclusive play spaces for highly sensitive and neurodivergent kids

Published by Sam Flores

My 8-year-old daughter hates sand in her shoes, but loves to play in the sand. She doesn’t like very loud environments, but enjoys thrill rides at amusement parks. She gets uncomfortable when the playground is too full, but loves to make friends. She wants to explore new places, but often needs to take breaks. And she needs to feel safe expressing and processing her emotions — whether that means crying or crying out — without being stared at or feeling judged. As you can see, my daughter has particular sensory needs that some may call a “sensory diet.” When she was 3, I realized she is a Highly Sensitive Child. HSC is not a diagnosis or a disorder— rather, it’s a personality trait defined by psychologist Elaine Aron in her 1996 book “The Highly Sensitive Person.” Most people think “sensitive” means emotional, but that’s not the case here. “Sensitive” refers to our senses. In their book “Raising a Sensory Smart Child,” Lindsey Biel and Nancy Peske explain that when it comes to our understanding of …