Abington Mother and Daughter Start Nonprofit to Make Clinical Trials More Diverse, Raise Awareness of Breast Cancer

By

praise is the cure PI 2022
Image via Tyger Williams, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Anita T. Conner, 65, and her daughter, Kerri Conner Matchett, 47, raise awareness about breast cancer and the importance of clinical trials through their nonprofit Praise Is the Cure.

Anita T. Conner of Abington and her daughter, Kerri Conner Matchett, were diagnosed with breast cancer ten years apart, writes Sarah Gantz for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Today, they run Praise Is the Cure, a nonprofit that raises awareness about the disease and helps make clinical trials more diverse and inclusive.

Rutgers University researchers have made progress in bringing more racial diversity to trials. Its researchers recently used an online portal to enable patients to self-monitor and report COVID-19 symptoms.

It is hoped that this electronic approach could help encourage communities of color to participate in additional healthcare efforts.

Black patients are less likely to be offered trial options and also often have a distrust of medicine, stemming from a history of racist medical experimentation on marginalized communities.

To overcome this distrust, medical professionals are turning to community ambassadors such as Conner and her daughter, who are currently involved in one such program at Fox Chase Cancer Center.

“There was no way I could go through all the treatment procedures my mom did,” Matchett recalled. “And the doctor said, ‘You won’t have to do any of that because of all the advancement.’”

The pair visit local churches and share personal stories through their nonprofit to help people feel comfortable and ask them questions on issues they may be reluctant to discuss with physicians.

Read more about Praise Is the Cure in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Connect With Your Community

Subscribe for stories that matter!

"*" indicates required fields

Hidden
BT Yes
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Advertisement