Identifying and Mitigating Health Inequalities in PSC: A Discussion with Dr. Kidist Yimam

In episode 35 of the Living with PSC Podcast, Host Niall McKay talks with Dr. Kidist Yimam, Medical Director of the Autoimmune Liver Disease Program at California Pacific Medical Center. She is also a member of the PSC Partners Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Working Group. In this podcast, they discuss health inequalities in PSC, including provider bias, lack of access to care, delay in diagnosis, importance of diversity in clinical trials, and more.

 

"It is not unusual to hear from some of our minority patients that they've been told by other providers that PSC affects people who are Caucasian, and they shouldn't be affected by the disease, leading to a delay in diagnosis of PSC, and even putting them at risk of poorer outcomes," says Dr. Yimam.

 

McKay and Yimam also discuss how including a diverse group of people in PSC natural history studies will allow researchers to better understand how genetics, socio-economic factors, cultural biases, and more affect the search for treatments and a cure for PSC. To make that happen, diversity is needed within the PSC Partners Patient Registry.