Upstate student presents research on medical equity and justice on MLK Jr. Day

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — On a day when we honor Martin Luther King Jr.'s fight for equality, medical research is telling us more still needs to be done.

The research was discussed today at the annual "Health Justice Conference" hosted by Upstate University Medical Center.

Many research studies were presented but the main focus was on a topic that impacts the health of our community — how minority groups are under-represented in medical trials that develop life-saving medicines or treatments.

The Health Justice Conference is now in its sixth year at Upstate, highlighting its students' research toward health justice.

Serena Schmitt is the chair of the Health Justice Conference and wanted to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day by making the theme of the event combine equality and health.

It is just kind of a way for us to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and celebrate this day, and because Upstate is a medical university, we've decided to focus this conference on health justice. Our theme this year is empowerment through equity.

The event included ten posters and 20 presentations on research students conducted that show health disparities across the globe.

Margarita Vazquez Almonte was one of the students presenting her research through a poster. Through her research, she discovered that marginalized groups have a higher rate of diseases but have lower representation in clinical trials.

Almonte says her group, "wanted to explore what were the main issues that caused people of color from not participating in more science research and clinical trials."

The goal of her research group was to understand misrepresented groups' attitudes toward clinical trials and why have they not wanted to participate. Then they aimed to change those attitudes so people of color could be confident in working in these studies.

Almonte was motivated by her upbringing and wanted to bring attention to a topic she is passionate about.

"Coming from the Bronx, I come from a low social economic status as well as an immigrant background," Almonte said, "and based on my experiences growing up and serving underserved communities, I saw a lot of health disparities and barriers keeping people from my community from accessing a lot of quality healthcare."

Her research study was conducted in Atlanta, Georgia but she says its findings are relevant to communities across the globe.