American Medical Association: Why this Black doctor volunteered for coronavirus vaccine trial
Dr. Louito Edje, UC associate dean and UC Health physician, wanted to support her patients
The American Medical Association interviewed Louito Edje, MD, associate dean of graduate medical education and designated institutional official at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, about the race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine and Edje’s decision to take part in a clinical trial. Too few of the people participating are Black, but it’s not surprising given the long-running difficulty that clinical trials have encountered in recruiting Black research subjects given high levels of historical mistrust.
Louito Edje, MD
Edge, a professor in the Department Medical Education and the Department of Family and Community Medicine, is also a UC Health physician. She joined the Phase 3 clinical trial for a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. UC is one of approximately 90 sites in the U.S. to host a trial for the mRNA-1273 vaccine developed by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases scientists and collaborators at biotechnology company Moderna.
Her decision to enroll in the federally funded study was an easy one. Edje dedicates many of her working hours overseeing more than 700 resident and fellow physicians who train at UC Health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, that means ensuring learners are safe as they provide frontline care.
Read Dr. Edje’s interview with the American Medical Association online.
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