PhRMA has awarded a $25,000 grant through its Collaborative Actions to Reach Equity program to Vakaramoko “Karam” Diaby, Ph.D., M.Sc., an assistant professor of pharmaceutical outcomes and policy in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy. The grant will support Diaby’s efforts to study racial disparities in medication utilization and adherence.
“Racial and ethnic disparities in health outcomes may be attributed to several factors, including low utilization of and poor adherence to evidence-based and curative therapies, as well as lack of health insurance,” Diaby said. “The current COVID-19 pandemic is an example of the pervasiveness of racial health disparities in the U.S.”
Diaby will collaborate with Askal Ayalew Ali, Ph.D., an assistant professor of economic, social and administrative pharmacy at Florida A&M University, to lead the study. They aim to review current approaches to address racial and ethnic disparities in medication utilization and adherence and identify a targeted set of recommendations to decrease those disparities in Florida.
PhRMA represents the country’s leading biopharmaceutical research companies and supports the search for new treatments and cures. It established the Health Equity Roundtable in 2019, with the goal of improving health outcomes by addressing inequalities in care.