Howard University’s equity focus advances translation, invites industry

Howard University’s mission to address racial health disparities brings a human focus to research that might have otherwise stuck to laboratory models. Many of its investigators are well-positioned to bring under-represented patient groups into clinical trials, and infrastructure investments from industry could go a long way toward unlocking that potential.

Howard — one of the more than 100 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the U.S. — includes in its mission a focus on issues impacting the African Diaspora, a focus that challenges its biomedical researchers to expand the clinical relevance of their work, and explore less-studied patient populations...