Richmond Nketia

E-mail: r.nketia.1@research.gla.ac.uk 

90 Byres Road, School of Health and Wellbeing, Clarice Pears Building, University of Glasgow, G12 8TB

ORCID iDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6673-147X

Research title: Making trials more equity-focused for minority ethnic people: Assessing differential treatment effectiveness and under inclusion

Research Summary

PhD Project: Making trials more equity focused for minority ethnic people: Assessing differential treatment effectiveness and under-inclusion

Background

People from minority ethnic groups are often under-represented in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and despite extensive use of feasibility and qualitative studies to improve inclusivity, this problem persists. However, the causes and impacts remain insufficiently examined, imposing several risks such as conducting expensive RCTs that do not meet the needs of their target populations or have different effects on ethnic groups. This study aims to explore how RCTs can be made more equity-focused for minority ethnic populations.

Potential Research Questions

Although in the early stage of the PhD, potential questions to explore include:

  • Reporting of ethnicity in RCTs
    • How well is ethnicity data reported in randomised controlled trials, and what factors influence the quality and completeness of this reporting?
  • Differences across ethnic and intersectional groups
    • How does the reporting and representation of ethnicity differ among ethnic groups and across intersectional characteristics (e.g., gender, socioeconomic status)?
  • Heterogeneity in outcomes
    • Is there evidence of heterogeneity in treatment effects and adverse events among different ethnic groups?

By answering these questions, we may be able to increase ethnic minority inclusion in RCTs and enhance generalisability of clinical research findings, as well as understand if treatments should be tailored by ethnicity. The end goal is to contribute to a future where evidence-based medicine for conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and mental health-related issues truly reflects the diversity of the communities it serves.

Supervisors

Grants

2025-2028: UK Medical Research Council (MRC) funded studentship for three years through the Trials Methodology Research Partnership (TMRP) doctoral training programme (DTP).

2023-2024: UK Commonwealth Scholarship Commission/Newcastle University fully-funded award for my MSc in Global Public Health degree through the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship programme.

Conferences

2024 - Newcastle Students for Global Health (SfGH) Annual Conference

  • Oral Presentation: Temporal Trends and Patterns of Multi-drug Resistant Tuberculosis Incidence in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1990-2019