Despite recent efforts to improve women's leadership in cardiovascular clinical trial research over the last decade, the number of female principal investigators (PIs) still falls well below the number of men, based on two recent studies, including one presented as part of ACC.22. This lack of women in clinical trial leadership has downstream impacts on the lack of gender diversity among presenters at scientific meetings, as well as the number of women participating in clinical trials.

"The field of cardiology has long-struggled with the inclusion of women in clinical trials, as well as the underrepresentation of women in the profession itself," said Aashna Suvarna, an undergraduate studying molecular and cellular biology at UC Berkeley in California, and a study author. "Current clinical trials rely on a majority of male participants, and the generalization of these results [to women] may be inaccurate. Improving representation of women in trials will yield more meaningful results by significantly improving clinical outcomes."

Read the full article in Cardiology.