Jennifer Scanlon, DNP, Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital (VCH) nurse and graduate of Belmont University’s Doctor of Nursing Program (May ’20), sought to determine how stakeholder race, trust and education influence participation barriers in clinical research through her scholarly project, “Predictors of Barriers to Participation in Clinical Research in Adults Living in the Southeastern United States.”The project – which was the first collaboration between Belmont’s School of Nursing and the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance (MVA) – utilized secondary, cross sectional survey data collected between 2014 and 2016 through the former Mid-South Clinical Data Research Network (CDRN), currently known as the STAR-CRN.
“We have underrepresentation in minority races,” Scanlon said. “In those races, there are the greatest health disparities. If we don’t have adequate representation in minorities, we won’t be able to treat them effectively, which will worsen disparities that already exist.”
Scanlon connected with MVA Research Assistant Professor of Medicine Alecia Fair, DrPH and Belmont University Adjunct Instructor of Mathematics David Phillippi, PhD, who served as Scholarly Project Team Managers. Belmont University Director of Graduate Nursing Studies Linda Wofford, DNP served as the Scholarly Project Advisor.
