Clinical Trial ‘Next Generation’ Workforce Fuels Diversity Optimism

When Reginald Swift, founder, and CEO at Rubix Life Sciences, looks into the clinical trial crystal ball, he’s excited by how new technologies will help advance patient diversity. Still, he’s even more encouraged by the next generation of up-and-coming professionals.

“I’m grateful for the younger generation because they’re socially aware,” Swift said at a recent “Movement Maker Series” podcast sponsored by the Boston Business Journal. “They’re socially conscious. They’re starting to be able to understand that as we start blending cultures and blending demographics, they’re starting to realize as well that a lot of these things must change from the way that we used to do things.”

While the clinical trial industry and regulators have been calling for increased clinical trial diversity for decades, with mixed results, Swift believes younger workers may hold the key to success. “I think they’re going to help carry us there” to expand healthcare coverage and access to clinical trials in far broader populations, he said.

After looking ahead, Swift reflected on how his father’s death has inspired his personal and professional journey to empower more people regarding healthcare options.

“When my father got sick and finally passed away, it was actually because of him that I dived into healthcare and life sciences,” Swift recalled. “I decided I wanted to make a difference and create products for people like my father and others who could not see the light of day or gain that access. And the initial settings of Rubix was born.”

Founded in 2016, Rubix LS is a digital life research and development company focusing on creating processes and innovations that improve patient health and outcomes. As of early November 2022, they were just a few thousand shy of a million patients on their platform. “Our subject matter expertise is in infectious disease and rare disease, ultra-rare as well,” Swifts said. “And we are becoming known as that specialty group where we get into the hard places, we work on the hard cases, and we’re able to stand up clinical programs in the most difficult-to-reach areas where it is uncommon for a larger organization to go,” he added.

To watch the podcast, click on this link