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Clinical Trial Diversity & Intersectionality: Looking at the Whole Patient

Apr 26, 2025 - 3:15pm CT

New Orleans

Citeline joins an expert panel including a top 10 industry sponsor, a research and policy center, and an independent nonprofit organization to share actionable insights on expanding the scope of diversity in clinical trials.

About this event

ACRP 2025 is the leading clinical research conference that delivers gold-standard education and insights to boost your professional development—while ensuring quality and integrity in the clinical research process.

Join us for an insightful session as Citeline partners with an expert panel, which includes a top 10 industry sponsor, a research and policy center, and an independent nonprofit organization to share actionable insights on expanding the scope of diversity in clinical trials.

Don't miss our session

APR 26, 2025

3:15pm CT

Clinical Trial Diversity & Intersectionality: Looking at the Whole Patient

In this session, an expert panel with members representing a top 10 industry sponsor; a research and policy center; an independent nonprofit organization; and a pharmaceutical business intelligence provider will share actionable insights on expanding the scope of diversity in clinical trials. The panelists will elaborate on the section of the new U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) diversity plan guidance stating that "FDA advises sponsors to seek diversity in clinical trial enrollment beyond populations defined by race and ethnicity, including other underrepresented populations defined by demographics.”

CEU: 1.00 ACRP

SPEAKERS

Fenwick Eckhardt • Head of Diversity Strategy, Citeline
Meghan McKenzie, MA • Director of Health Equity and Clinical Research, Genentech's Chief Diversity Office
Behtash Bahador • Director of Health Literacy, Center For Info & Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP)
Sylvia Baedorf Kassis, MPH • Program Director, Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard

Speakers

Fenwick Eckhardt

Head of Diversity Strategy

Citeline

Meghan McKenzie, MA

Director of Health Equity and Clinical Research

Genentech's Chief Diversity Office

Behtash Bahador

Director of Health Literacy

Center For Info & Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP)

Sylvia Baedorf Kassis, MPH

Program Director

Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard

Fenwick Eckhardt

Head of Diversity Strategy

Citeline

Fenwick Eckhardt is Head of Diversity Strategy at Citeline. She is dedicated to revolutionizing the life sciences industry through cutting-edge solutions that harness real-world data, technology, and analytics.

With over five years of experience in pharma and biotech, Fenwick excels in optimizing clinical trial design and outcomes to expedite the delivery of life-saving therapies. She holds a master's degree from Imperial College London and a bachelor's in human physiology from Boston University.

Email: [email protected]

Meghan McKenzie, MA

Director of Health Equity and Clinical Research

Genentech's Chief Diversity Office

Meghan McKenzie works in Patient Inclusion and Health Equity in Genentech’s Chief Diversity Office. She develops strategies to drive greater inclusion of underrepresented patient populations in clinical research and to advance health equity by working directly with sites in its AIR Site Alliance. Gaining patient, clinician, and community insights early in program development is integral to developing what is important to patients and improving access to medicines and treatments for all patients, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, and socioeconomic status.

With over 25 years of clinical development research experience working at sites/industry, and spanning multiple diseases, including oncology, ophthalmology, immunology, neurology, infectious, and rare diseases. Meghan received her master’s degree in human biology at San Francisco State University and her bachelor’s degree in economics at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and has earned the Cornell D&I Certificate and Columbia Business Leadership (gLEAD) Certificate.

Behtash Bahador

Director of Health Literacy

Center For Info & Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP)

Behtash Bahador is the Director of Health Literacy at the nonprofit organization CISCRP and holds a Master of Science in Health Communication from the Tufts University School of Medicine.

Since 2014, he has collaborated with a range of stakeholder groups to establish and implement patient- and community-centric initiatives across the lifecycle of clinical research. This has included supporting the development of regulatory and cross-disciplinary best practice guidelines, operationalizing key elements of evidence-based public health programing into research engagement activities, and always keeping the needs of patients, participants and the public at the forefront of his work.

Sylvia Baedorf Kassis, MPH

Program Director

Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard

Sylvia Baedorf Kassis, MPH, is a Program Director at the MRCT Center, with 25 years of global clinical research-related experience in Canada and the United States of America. Sylvia’s clinical research experience includes incorporating patient insights into study processes; supporting research coordinators through networks and training; and ensuring all research stakeholders have the resources they need to conduct ethical and compliant studies involving study participants, and their data and samples.

Over the last 6 years, Sylvia has championed efforts to make clinical research more understandable and accessible to patients, participants, and caregivers through her work on Health Literacy in Clinical Research and the first-of-its-kind, plain language Clinical Research Glossary. She is passionate about patient/participant engagement, and as such strives for inclusivity in the programs she leads so that patient/participant voices are prioritized. Sylvia earned a Master of Public Health degree in Global Health from Boston University School of Public Health in 2008 and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto in 2001.