Sidebar: Information for researchers who want to work with the African American community to promote health
For more than 20 years, health organizations and clergy have worked together to educate churchgoers about basic nutrition and disease prevention. In much the same way, medical researchers and church leaders can join forces to draw African American community members into clinical trials in which everyone benefits. For churchgoers, clinical trials offer disease education, screening, and potential treatment. For researchers, the church offers a chance to attract-and possibly help-hundreds of African Americans.
"In many places, the church is the center of the community," says Keith Norris, vice chairman of the department of medicine at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles. "So if a pastor, say, approves of a project, you can reach a fairly broad audience."
In Detroit, for example, Wayne State University urologist Isaac J. Powell recently ...
