Love Letters to Our Bodies
Conversations on health, healing, and happiness for and by African American women. An exploration of the mind, body, spirit connection. and opportunities to hear from spiritual teachers and holistic health practitioners.
Love Letters to Our Bodies
Bridging the Gap with Clinical Trials
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What would it take to make clinical trials feel accessible, trustworthy, and truly designed for the communities that need them most? In this episode, Gwen Mitchell sits down with Ricki Fairley to discuss why clinical trial participation matters for Black women’s breast cancer outcomes and how we can bridge the gap in research. Ricki, an award-winning marketing veteran and triple-negative cancer survivor, has dedicated her expertise to breast cancer advocacy. She co-founded and leads Touch, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance, a non-profit organization focused on addressing Black breast cancer as a unique disease and reducing mortality rates for Black women. They also explore the work Touch is doing through various initiatives to support patients through providing information, advocacy, and survivor-led guidance. Tune in to learn how better representation in research can lead to better treatment options, stronger support systems, and more empowered choices for patients and families with Ricki Fairley!
Key Points From This Episode:
• Why breast cancer outcomes for Black women are driven by biology and research gaps.
• Link to Blog post with images of lymph node tumors for a black & white patient.
• Understand how Black breast cancer cells can look different from white breast cancer cells.
• Get a breakdown of the SAMBAI research initiative and what it aims to achieve.
• Unpack the two biggest barriers to Black women joining clinical trials.
• Learn about TouchCare and how it supports Black women through clinical trials.
• What Ricki wants young Black women to know about triple-negative breast cancer.
• Discover how her web series has changed the conversation around Black breast cancer.
Quotes:
“Not enough attention was being given to Black women, so I said, ‘We have to figure it out, we need more science.’ So that is what made me start TOUCH; to really advance the science.” — Ricki Fairley [0:06:14]
“We keep these secrets, and the secrets that Black families keep are killing us. We’ve got to put the words out there. [Touch] tries to make generational health a kitchen table conversation.” — Ricki Fairley [0:19:00]
“If you have triple negative breast cancer. The best science you can have right now is to get on a clinical trial because those are the best drugs we have.” — Ricki Fairley [0:26:54]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Touch, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance
SAMBAI (Social, Ancestry, Molecular and Biological Analysis of Inequalities)
Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Love Letters 2 Our Bodies is sponsored by Moyo Institute, Inc and the Lloyd Symington Foundation
Gwendolyn Mitchell on LinkedIn
MOYO Institute, Inc
instagram.com/moyoinstitute
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