One Size Does Not Fit All: The Global Outlook for Inclusion in Clinical Trials

Mary Stutts is the Chief Executive Officer of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) where she leads the global mission to accelerate the advancement and impact of women in the business of healthcare and health equity.

Mary brings to the HBA 30 years of experience leading the strategic integration of corporate branding, marketing, health equity, inclusion, and digital innovation for biopharma, healthcare, and media companies. Her expertise and cross functional acumen have provided global leadership to organizations and Fortune 500 companies including Genentech, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Sumitovant, UnitedHealth Group, Kaiser Permanente, Stanford Health Care, and Comcast NBCUniversal.

Previously, Stutts was the Global Chief Inclusion and Health Equity Officer at Real Chemistry where she drove inclusion and equitable care for clients by integrating customized digital analytics and data intelligence to increase market penetration and clinical trial diversity.

Among her many accomplishments, as the former Chief Inclusion and Health Equity Officer at Stanford Health Care, Stutts worked directly with the board to curate the Inclusive Leadership Workshop which was designed to develop executives capable of leading, growing, and transforming organizations while addressing racial and social injustice and inequity amongst all stakeholders. Additionally, Stutts led Genentech’s $5 million Diversity in Clinical Trials initiative to increase the representation of people of color and women; enhanced a culture of workplace inclusion and health equity during Bristol Myers Squibb’s business model transformation; and oversaw fulfillment of the FCC’s digital equity conditions in Comcast’s California Region required for the acquisition of NBCUniversal.  

Stutts is a recognized advocate of women in leadership and has been at the forefront of board readiness programs to increase the representation of women and people of color on public and private corporate boards.

As an accomplished author, Mary’s new book, Recurring Themes of Exclusion in the Workplace, provides an in-depth analysis of ongoing exclusionary practices in the workplace and details the path needed to achieve true “inclusive diversity.” Her book The Missing Mentor:  Women Advising Women on Power, Progress and Priorities has been dubbed a surrogate mentor for women focused on career advancement.

Stutts earned a Master of Health Administration degree at the University of Southern California and is a graduate of the Executive Program on Strategy and Organization at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Adrelia Cabiness Allen is Head of Clinical Trial Patient Diversity at Merck. In this role, Adrelia leads a team of experts focused on enrolling patients from underrepresented groups into clinical trials. The team engages with patients and clinical research communities to educate and raise awareness of the need to recruit people from all racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, cultural backgrounds and lifestyles – which is essential to advancing knowledge about the safety and efficacy of treatments for all people. Adrelia has held positions of increasing responsibility within Merck’s clinical research organization. Her team was awarded the 2024 top honor by Citeline for exceptional initiative in promoting diversity and inclusion of underrepresented populations within a clinical trial/drug development program. She is also a recipient of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association Rising Star award for her leading efforts to increase clinical trial diversity. She holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Florida A&M University.

Dr. Otis Johnson is the Founder of Trial Equity, whose purpose is to ensure that medicines are safe and effective for all people by providing solutions for diverse patient recruitment in clinical trials.

Recognized for his leadership by Pharmavoice, Informa Connect and Mogul, he has served on the diversity advisory boards of the Association of Clinical Research Organizations (ACRO) and the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP). He is also on the advisory board of Wake Forest University’s Master’s Degree Program in Clinical Research Management and a Global Advisory Board Member of the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA).

Kendal Whitlock is the Head of Digital Optimization, RWE Clinical Trials, with Walgreens. This role leverages data assets and partnerships to advance culturally responsive approaches to clinical research. In her role, Ms. Whitlock focuses on digital, educational, and community-based solutions to drive access to clinical trials, enabling opportunities that are flexible and convenient for participants.

Ms. Whitlock holds a Master of Public Health in Sociomedical Sciences from Columbia University (New York, NY). She earned a BA with honors from Spelman College (Atlanta, GA).

Ms. Whitlock is the Chair of the Product Development and Clinical Research Sub-committee for the Med Tech Color Collaborative Community, member of the NIH-BMGF Innovation Equity Forum Steering Committee, Diversity Woman Media’s Elite 100 Class of 2023, the Inaugural Kerry Murphy Healey (KMH) Center Health Innovation Award Recipient (Babson College) and is a National Coalition of 100 Black Women – Greater Cleveland Chapter - Women of Vision Honoree.