CeraVe has established a fund at Howard University, one of the only historically Black universities with a department of dermatology, to help its faculty further their expertise and build the infrastructure needed to conduct clinical trials with a focus on skin of color.
This new partnership will help Howard University, which serves a predominantly Black patient population, forge the path to advance dermatological science and improve representation of Black people leading clinical trials.
The first stage of the partnership between CeraVe and Howard University, will help fund faculty education to obtain certification to conduct clinical trials.
Ginette Okoye, MD, chair of dermatology at Howard University College of Medicine, said, "The creation of the fund in partnership with CeraVe allows us to invest in training our academic faculty to conduct clinical research trials, the first step towards building a dermatology clinical trials unit in the only dermatology department at a historically Black university. The brand's vision and support of the department of dermatology at Howard University improves the retention, and ultimately the academic promotion, of faculty from groups underrepresented in medicine, and by extension provides more opportunities for mentorship of UIM students and residents."
Tom Allison, CeraVe co-founder and senior vice president of global professional marketing, said, "Equity within skin care is more than representation in marketing and advertising. It is representation of all people at the root of product development. To truly achieve therapeutic skin care for all, people of all skin types and tones must be part of skin care research, and this fund at Howard University is one step towards closing the inequity gap."
