Chapter 14-800: Inclusion of Women and Minorities in Health Research

Both federal agencies and the State have adopted policies or passed laws which require the inclusion of women and minorities in health research projects. The National Institutes of Health has a published policy on this subject. The State has passed legislation directed at the University in this area.

14-810 National Institutes of Health Policy

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has implemented a policy entitled "NIH/ADAMHA Policy Concerning Inclusion of Minorities and Women as Subjects in Research." The policy states that research involving human subjects must include minorities and both genders in study populations so that:

research findings can be of benefit to all persons at risk of the disease, disorder or condition under study; special emphasis should be placed on the need for inclusion of minorities and women in studies of diseases, disorders and conditions which disproportionately affect them...

NIH will not fund grants that do not comply with this policy.

14-820 State Health Research Fairness Act

The California State Health Research Fairness Act requested The Regents to adopt a policy on the appropriate inclusion of women and members of minority groups as subjects in health research projects carried out by or funded by the University and to report to the State Legislature the policies and procedures adopted by the University to meet this request. (See 14-S02.)

14-830 Implementation

The University of California Policy on Gender and Ethnicity Representation in Health Research was issued on June 3, 1993. The policy essentially extends the NIH/ADAMHA policy to all applicable research conducted at the University as well as to research sponsored or administered by the University and conducted at other institutions. (See chapter 18 in this Manual for further discussion on human subjects in research.)