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UW Clinical Trials Institute | The Side Effects of Inequality: How Lack of Diversity in Clinical Trials Affects Drug Effectiveness and Safety

By Daphne Berryhill, Med Shadow Foundation
Medication is a core component of patient care. Most adults regularly take some prescription drugs, and most also agree, according to a 2024 public opinion poll by KFF, that new drug therapies make people’s lives better.
Access to safe and effective medications should be available to all, but equitable access often falls short. Marginalized groups, who often face higher rates of chronic disease, frequently encounter barriers to obtaining medications, su...
MedShadow Foundation •

Clinical Trials and Side Effects - MedShadow Foundation

By Daphne Berryhill


Discover how the FDA clinical trial process works and what its limitations mean for your safety and the effectiveness of drugs in everyday use.


Each year, a select group of novel new drugs enter the U.S. market. In 2023, 55 new drugs were approved—adding to the more than 20,000 prescription drugs already in circulation.


The process of evaluating and approving new drugs dates back to the 1960s, when the FDA began requiring evidence of a drug’s safety and effic...
Musical Pathways Foundation | Kindermusik •

Talking with other parents — Musical Pathways Foundation | Kindermusik

by Daphne BerryhillThe word “etiquette'' may bring to mind Emily Post’s classic blue book of rules from a hundred years ago. But etiquette is simply about showing respect to other humans and that’s just as relevant today. Modern etiquette is more inclusive, more casual, and has less of a snobbery vibe. And as we move towards better understanding individual differences, the golden rule is sometimes only a starting point. Would everyone want to be treated exactly the same way as you would in a spe...
Musical Pathways Foundation | Kindermusik •

Connecting with other parents — Musical Pathways Foundation | Kindermusik

by Daphne BerryhillOne thing many new parents want — besides more sleep, extra help and yep, paid bills — is conversation. Real conversation. With other parents experiencing a similar version of the same thing they’re going through and at the same time. Sure, wisdom (and help) from grandparents is great! So is advice from a big sister who had her first baby a decade ago. But grandparents learned all about caring for babies back in the early edition days of What to Expect and your sister from the...
Musical Pathways Foundation | Kindermusik •

Kindermusik: Your Child’s Gateway to the Big, Wide World — Musical Pathways Foundation | Kindermusik

Every parent or caregiver knows: babies understand music. Music both soothes and excites. Music is understood, even when the words are not. Recent research has put this “music is a universal language” idiom to the test, and it turns out, as far as babies go, it’s spot-on. A study conducted at The Music Lab, a program within Harvard University’s Department of Psychology, showed that infants responded to lullabies the same, regardless of language or culture.With music having such a universal appea...
Daphne Berryhill. Pharmacist. Medical Writer. •

Prioritizing Diversity in Clinical Trials: An AMWA 2025 Reflection — Daphne Berryhill. Pharmacist. Medical Writer.

Earlier this year, I wrote a reported piece for the MedShadow Foundation: “The Side Effects of Inequality: How Lack of Diversity in Clinical Trials Affects Drug Effectiveness and Safety.” Those conversations and research left me asking: How can I, as a writer, prioritize diversity and inclusion in clinical research? AMWA’s annual conference felt like the perfect place to discuss these questions with others in the medical writing community. My roundtable topic centered on the role medical commun...
Musical Pathways Foundation | Kindermusik •

The Childhood Music That Shapes Who We Are — Musical Pathways Foundation | Kindermusik

by Daphne BerryhillMusic has meant so much in my life. Not as background noise but as a never-ending soundtrack. The sappy kind. The edgy kind. And everything in between. I can rewind back or listen now as the future turns present. It never stops playing.Lately, classical piano music has been filling my head and home. It’s probably becoming part of my kids’ soundtrack, paired with memories of their mom in the kitchen, sometimes toiling, other times puttering. But for me, the music takes me back...
Musical Pathways Foundation | Kindermusik •

Keeping Your Cool on Long Summer Days with Kids out of School — Musical Pathways Foundation | Kindermusik

Here we’ll share seven summer tips to help. Summer might not be magically awesome. But you might find more Insta-worthy moments that’ll be so good, you’ll forget about sharing them.First off, if you find yourself struggling this summer, it’s not just you. Psychologist Avery Hoenig points out in a recent interview for Jumble & Flow: summer is a stressful season, contrary to its laid-back image. Hoenig says it’s better to hope for some fun parts to summer, rather than imagine a magical experience...
Musical Pathways Foundation | Kindermusik •

Page-turning Fun With Your Little One Through Their Earliest Days — Musical Pathways Foundation | Kindermusik

by Daphne BerryhillIf you’ve been invited to a baby shower in the past five-ish years, you’ve probably heard of the “bring a book instead of card” trend. Picking out a book is the easy part. Everyone has their old favorites. And anyone can find a new one. Figuring out what to write inside is trickier; it feels so permanent.Children’s books are timeless and  treasured. So it makes sense this trend took hold. Preparing for a new baby with a little library put together by friends and loved ones — h...
Musical Pathways Foundation | Kindermusik •

Milestones in parenting: how first birthdays are stepping stones to embracing your own self as a parent — Musical Pathways Foundation | Kindermusik

At 25, I was the youngest in this group of experienced Talbots-dressed moms with swinging blowout hair. These older GenX moms were both fascinating and intimidating. They seemed to have it all and keep it all pulled together. Their power couple marriages were displayed in their 3-months salary diamond rings, on their living room walls in oversized wedding portraits, and in their china cabinets filled with gifts made of porcelain, crystal and silver, all in sets of ten.Living in perfectly designe...
Musical Pathways Foundation | Kindermusik •

Back to Basics: Why Open-ended Play, Discovery and Community are Just as Relevant as Ever — Musical Pathways Foundation | Kindermusik

By Daphne BerryhillWhen my husband and I were expecting our first child, we began preparing – with books, classes and store-bought stuff. And just when we thought we were ready, we read something else that told us we needed something else and so we bought something else. Sometimes, the new information was the opposite of what we first read, and that we thought we needed, and that we’ve already bought. When my mom had her first child in 1970, there was one book to read, one high chair to buy, and...
MedShadow Foundation •

Clinical Trials and Side Effects - MedShadow Foundation

By Daphne Berryhill


Discover how the FDA clinical trial process works and what its limitations mean for your safety and the effectiveness of drugs in everyday use.


Each year, a select group of novel new drugs enter the U.S. market. In 2023, 55 new drugs were approved—adding to the more than 20,000 prescription drugs already in circulation.


The process of evaluating and approving new drugs dates back to the 1960s, when the FDA began requiring evidence of a drug’s safety and effic...
Meet Me at the Medcart •

Everything you think you know about iron deficiency is (probably) wrong

Body, meet iron: known on the periodic table as Fe, short for the Latin ferrum, which means “firmness.” Iron is a mineral that makes up most of the earth’s core and sustains life in nearly every plant and animal, including us.Iron is a precious metal for life. It’s not only critical for bringing oxygen to tissues throughout the body, iron is needed for a host of other processes, including energy production, immune regulation, and DNA synthesis.Most of the 3 to 4 grams in our bodies is tucked int...
Daphne Discloses •

Thriving with your new baby during Wisconsin’s long winter slog

A similar version of this piece was first published in 2023 in the Musical Pathways school parenting blog, where I originally wrote it as a board member. I’m updating and moving some of my parenting stories here. The holiday lights are flickering off and it’s back to the normal, everyday EVERY DAY. It’s January. If you’ve spent a few winters in Wisconsin, you know there’s no end in sight to the blustery bite of winter … regardless of whether some chosen groundhog sees its shadow next month. And...
Daphne Discloses •

A midlife refusal to be remade for anyone else’s comfort

This is for every woman who’s been told she’s “too something” at the exact moment her life was expanding. I’m purposefully not putting any pictures of myself or any other women in this piece. Women already have too many in their own heads, often at the expense of the very special one they truly are right now, no makeover needed.At 51, I feel a lot like I did at 17: like I’m too much, and everyone wants me to go back to who I was before. At 17, you become “too much.” Too sexy, too bitchy, too kno...
Meet Me at the Medcart •

This is not a story about how an estrogen patch will fix everything

This is not a story about how an estrogen patch will fix everything.It’s about how confusing perimenopause still is and how easy it is to mistake hormonal chaos for a menopausal hormonal decline. This is especially true in a moment when menopause advice is louder, more confident, and more commercial than ever.When I was the youngest in my group of mom friends, the older women used to talk about something they called “the change before the change.” It sounded ominous and vague, and I didn’t fully...
News from Those Nerdy Girls •

From Civil Rights Hubs to Pharmacy Deserts:

Those Nerdy Girls is your trusted source for all things health. Whether there’s too much information, not enough information, or lots of misinformation, we have you covered. If you’re already a paid subscriber, we greatly appreciate your support. If not, please help us keep the lights on by becoming a paid subscriber today.Upgrade to Paid SubscriptionFrom Civil Rights Hubs to Pharmacy Deserts: What Pharmacy Closures Mean—And How You Can Take ActionPharmacies provide essential care, from medicati...
Daphne Discloses •

Gratitude in the air

My November started with a trip to Phoenix to attend the American Medical Writers Association’s annual conference. The afternoon flight out of O’Hare turned into a red-eye one with a near six-hour delay due to the government shutdown. Settling into the prospect of a stretch of time with nothing to do, my first instinct was to be productive (though I specifically avoided bringing a laptop for that very reason). Still, I tried. I was finishing up writing a CE course on alpha-gal syndrome—have you...
Daphne Discloses •

Home Again: Seeing Mom as Human and Not the Supermom

My mom turned 75! I visited her last weekend. Hearing my mom’s voice, narrating life down to the smallest detail, always feels just like home. I know this drives some people crazy, but I’ve never stopped being calmed by the sound of her voice: It’s my mom. She’s here. I can hear her. And I feel like a kid again. She’s in the kitchen, making Hungry Jack potatoes for supper and somehow making them taste better than homemade. Everything she made tasted better, as every kid on our block knew. She wa...
Meet Me at the Medcart •

Antibiotic Season: The Good, The Bad, and The Guilt

Some of you know I have four kids, ages 9 to 25. So after hearing that sickly little “Mooooom” so many times, I know what’s coming: a flood of decisions. Do I keep my kid home? Take them in? Juggle work and errands around yet another sick day? Every parent knows this moment, and every parent knows the guilt that creeps in—what if I make the wrong call?When I was a kid, a trip to the doctor almost always meant coming home with an antibiotic prescription. Sometimes the doctor even sent us off with...
News from Those Nerdy Girls •

How can workplace culture be healthier for everyone?

Those Nerdy Girls is your trusted source for all things health. Whether there’s too much information, not enough information, or lots of misinformation, we have you covered. If you’re already a paid subscriber, we greatly appreciate your support. If not, please help us keep the lights on by becoming a paid subscriber today.Upgrade to Paid SubscriptionHow can workplace culture be healthier for everyone?Workplace cultures get healthier when trust, fairness, and belonging are built into daily routi...
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