CeraVe aims to help close the racial inequity gap in dermatological research.
CeraVe has established a fund for Howard University Students to help address the lack of diversity in skincare clinical research. The first stage of the partnership will help fund faculty education to obtain certification to conduct clinical trials.
“There is a significant disparity for skin of color,” the company says. “This includes representation at the clinical research level, both for participants of dermatological clinical trials and the investigators conducting them…”
The fund VeraVe is establishing at Howard University will help its faculty further their expertise and build the infrastructure needed to conduct clinical trials with a focus on skin of color. Howard University is one of the only historically Black universities with a Department of Dermatology.
Dr. Ginette Okoye, chair of dermatology at Howard University College of Medicine, says, “The creation of the fund in partnership with CeraVe allows us to invest in training—and is the first step towards building a dermatology clinical trials unit.”
Tom Allison, CeraVe co-founder and senior vice president of global professional marketing, says, “Equity within skincare is more than representation in marketing and advertising. It is representation of all people at the root of product development.”
Allison continues, “To truly achieve therapeutic skincare for all, people of all skin types and tones must be part of skincare research, and this fund at Howard University is one step towards closing the inequity gap.”
CeraVe’s funding will help cover training for faculty from the Department of Dermatology at Howard University College of Medicine to become certified to lead clinical trials—and it’s a critical step in advancing dermatology for skin of color.