The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI), a coalition of 150,000 African American churches representing 27.7 million members, has announced the launch of Enroll Now, a new digital magazine created to support increased participation of African Americans in clinical trials.
The magazine is part of NBCI’s National Clinical Trials Strategic Plan (NCTSP), a long-term initiative focused on fostering trust, sharing critical health information, and improving representation in clinical research.
Passing the Baton to a New Generation with a Grander Vision Through The National Black Church Initiative National Clinical Trial Plan (NCTSP)
NBCI NCTSP Salutes and Honors Dr. James H. Powell as the Father of African American Clinical Trials Participation and Diversity and the Current and Future Black Clinicians and Researchers Promoting Diversity in Clinical Trials
The purpose of the new online Enroll Magazine is to have a platform whereby we can publicize clinical trials on behalf of our future partners, editorials on health disparities, views from members of our congregations concerning clinical trials, a platform to publish from the members of the American Clinical Health Disparities Commission, and to illuminate critical data and especially to reprint with permission other critical scholarly articles from Black and Latino scholars. We have been working on this online project for one year, and we have accumulated over five thousand Black, White, and Latino researchers’ emails. One point eight million NBCI members have signed up to receive the Enroll Magazine, in addition to our one hundred and fifty thousand churches.
Please submit your articles for review.
Rev Anthony Evans
dcbci2002@gmail.com
Dr. Joseph Webster
Chair of ACHDC
Dr. James McCoy
Co-Chair of ACHDC
The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI) is a coalition of 150,000 African-American churches, constituting 27.7 members, working to eradicate racial disparities in healthcare, technology, education, housing, and the environment. NBC’s mission is to provide critical wellness information to its members, congregants, churches, and the public.
The National Black Church Initiative took twenty years of its thirty-year history to launch the National Clinical Trial Strategic Plan. Building a national health delivery structure within the Black Church was difficult because it was not its primary focus of the Black Church. The marriage between faith and medicine has never been difficult in the Black Church, because we never saw it as a philosophical debate. We clearly understand that everyone needs faith to succeed, and medicine is no different. In 2015, we made a major program decision to focus our efforts through our 150,000 churches, constituting 27.7 million members in five separate areas. They are: Prevention, Health Promotion/Education, Disease Management, clinical trials, and data collection. In 2018, we received a call from Ms. Cassandra Smith of Jassen Pharmaceutical. They were impressed with our clinical trial program booklet, the NBCI Clinical Trial Education Awareness and Participation Program (CTEAPP). They offered NBCI a multi-year grant to develop an educational program for our 150,000-member churches. This was the impetus for building our current national community service delivery structure.
A year before, in 2017 , NBCI met with and delivered to the FDA recommendations on what needed to be included in an effective clinical trial for African Americans. enrollnowmagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/fda-final.pdf NBCI has been promoting clinical trials for the past 25 years.. The Clinton, Bush, Obama, and the first Trump administration ignored the cries of NBCI, Dr. James A. Powell, the National Medical Association, and the National Academy of Sciences, the need for and the importance of diversity in clinical trials. The pharmaceutical industry was against diversity of clinical trials before they were for it. They were focused on cost and not the science. It is unclear where the industry stands today, given the Trump Administration’s war
against DEI.
The multi-year grant allowed us to harden and implement the NBCI community service delivery structure. After six years of implementing the NBCI community service delivery structure, it took us an additional four years to build a website to write a clinical trial curriculum and to launch and conclude a six-year clinical trial Pilot Program while educating over 52,000 African American churchgoers on the risks and benefits of participating in clinical Trials. Against the backdrop of the history of the Tuskegee Experiment, we are now ready to launch the National Clinical Trial Strategic Plan. We were going to launch in 2020, but we were faced with the COVID pandemic. We were also set to launch in 2022, but were stopped because of the opioid crisis, and we eventually launched on March 26, 2025, at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York. Our current fight with the Trump Administration could have been avoided if the Phama, BIO, Obama, Clinton, and Biden White Houses had done their job to honor the black voters and their demand for access to healthcare. We would not be facing the dismantling of the current rules, making and regulations regarding diversity in clinical trials.
Those rules on diversity in clinical trials could have been permanently in place beforethe NBCI recommendation in 2017, and we would not have been subject to the current Trump administration’s political war against DEI.
The National Black Church Initiative’s methodology utilizes faith and sound health science. We also offer our member congregants and the public helpful and healthy science-based tips on developing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
The National Black Church Initiative aims to partner with major organizations and officials whose primary mission is reducing racial disparities in the abovementioned areas. NBCI offers faith based, out-of-the-box, and cutting-edge solutions to stubborn economic and social issues. NBCI’s programs are governed by credible statistical analysis, science-based strategies and techniques, and methods that work.
View full size image at enrollnowmagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/community-delivery-scaled.png
The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI), a coalition of 150,000 African American churches and 27.7 million members, has launched the National Clinical Trials Strategic Plan (NCTSP) to inform, empower, educate, enroll, and maintain African Americans in Clinical trials. This will be one of the most significant efforts to improve health in the African American community. This is truly a historical moment for the Black churches as they seek to build and sustain an interdisciplinary approach. NCTSP’s sole objective is to increase the recruitment and enrollment of African Americans in clinical trials, as well as to present the availability of
the array of clinical trials to NBCl’s 27.7 million members. NBCI aims to have 200 long-term clinical partners to produce the critical data to move the science forward to make medical products more effective in treating African American people and join with the American Clinical Health Disparities Commission (ACHDC) to create and deliver quality clinical trial experiences for NBCl’s 27.7 million members.
Rev. Anthony Evans, President of NBCI, stated: “NBCI and our partners are committed to ensuring the lessons of history are never forgotten.We are ushering in a new era of increased engagement and transparency in clinical research that centers the needs of African American and Latino communities.” The organization references historical medical injustices, including the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, as a driving force behind its comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach. The initiative aims to build trust, provide accurate information, and promote equitable access to clinical research opportunities. NBCI welcomes collaboration with biopharmaceutical companies and research institutions to address disparities in health outcomes and participation. Studies have shown that African Americans and Latinos remain significantly underrepresented in clinical research, contributing to gaps in treatment development and medical equity.
The NCTSP aligns with key recommendations outlined by the National Academies in its report “Improving Representation in Clinical Trials and Research”, and NBCI encourages the U.S. Food and Drug Administration {FDA) to consider the plan as a strategic resource. NBCl’s 2024 Congressional report, “Moving Toward a National Black Health Agenda: What African Americans Want from The Democratic and the Republican Party in Healthcare”, outlines the continued impact of health disparities and the importance of faith-based engagement in addressing systemic inequities. The Black church, through its long-standing community presence and trust, continues to be a leading advocate for inclusive research.
NBCI looks forward to continued collaboration with its partners in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries to support representative clinical research. By working together, the organization believes the U.S. can take meaningful steps toward better health outcomes for all communities.
The health equity gap in the US is so vast that you could refer to it as a chasm. Marginalized 
groups, especially African Americans and Latinos, have worse outcomes with various health conditions, and worse, when it comes to clinical research to treat and prevent, these groups are grossly underrepresented. Closing that gap has taken great effort, and the Black church has stepped up and taken the lead. The National Black Church Initiative National Clinical Trials Strategic Plan (NCTSP) (https://naltblackchurch.com/pdf/nbci-ntc-sp-slides3.pdf) has mirrored the call by the National Academies report on Improving Representation in Clinical Trials and Research, and the organization urges the FDA to use it as a blueprint.
Click this link to read more about the NBCI NCTSP Launch
Rev Anthony Evans welcomes viewers to the National Clinical Trials Strategic Plan (NCTSP)with a roll out presentation that took place on March 26th, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY at Cornerstone
Baptist Church. He explains the purpose and particulars for the plan and how it will be
implemented.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST4oRMTDbzk
ACHDC’s chief objective is to provide NBCI and NCTSP with overall scientific direction and guidance in education, literature and video development, clinical trial protocols, and guidelines for critical data collection.
Vision
To create a world where every individual, regardless of background, has equal access to health opportunities, clinical research reflects our society’s diversity and barriers to health equity are dismantled through collaborative efforts among the clergy, healthcare practitioners, and communities.
Mission
We aim to empower minority communities by increasing their participation in clinical research, advocating for equitable health policies, and addressing systemic barriers to health equality. We aim to foster an inclusive environment where health, education, economic stability, cultural enrichment, and environmental sustainability intersect to support the well-being of all individuals.
Goals and Methods for Measuring Evidence-Based Outcomes
Health
Goal: Increase minority participation in clinical research and improve health outcomes across
diverse populations.
Methods for Measuring Outcomes
Clinical Research Education
Goal: Enhance educational opportunities and awareness of clinical research and health equity in minority communities.
Methods for Measuring Outcomes:
Dr. James H. Powell received his B.S. in Chemistry from Virginia Union University, and his M.D. from Weill Cornell Medical College. He trained in clinical pharmacology at Weill-Cornell, where he was an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology before joining the pharmaceutical industry.
He left the industry in 2006 after 24 years as a clinical research executive directing global clinical trials. These included initial human exposure research for many new chemical entities, Phase 1 through 4 clinical trials and Rx to OTC switches, and establishment of molecular pharmacology and biomarker capability in support of clinical drug trials. He is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Physicians and Investigators and recipient of its Lifetime Honorary Membership Award.
Beginning in 2000, Dr. Powell served as Principal Investigator for the National Medical Association’s Project IMPACT (Increase Minority Participation and Awareness of Clinical Trials) – directing a national effort to educate African American and other
physicians and consumers on clinical research participation.
In this project, he designed and led programs to educate more than a thousand diverse
physicians in skills, ethics, cultural competence, business aspects, and regulatory understanding required for becoming investigators for clinical trials in diverse communities.
He was also a member of Baylor College of Medicines EDICT Project (Elimination of Disparities in Clinical Trials) and was appointed to the Secretary of U.S. Health and Human Services
Advisory Committee for Human Research Protection (SACHRP).
He serves on the Board of “Closing the Health Gap” of Greater Cincinnati, a local health advocacy organization, is a former member of Harvard and Brigham’s Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Diversity Roundtable and was a founding member and contributor to the Alliance of Multicultural Physicians (A nonprofit organization developed as a collaboration between the National Hispanic Medical Association, the Association of American Indian Physicians, the National Council of Asian and Pacific Islander Physicians).
In 2007, Dr. Powell founded Strategic Medical Associates to consult with clinical developers of new drug products and other organizations to educate diverse patients/consumers about
clinical research and enable physician and patient influence, engagement, and inclusion for speed, efficiency, and diversity in clinical trials. He has authored many publications on molecular pharmacology and basic and clinical research and has conducted numerous lectures and scientific presentations, including several on clinical trials in people of color.
Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett
Dr. Roger A. Mitchell, Jr.
Dr. Ramona Burress
Dr. Randall C. Morgan, Jr.
Dr. Worta McCaskill-Stevens
Dr. David Satcher
Dr. Louis W. Sullivan
Dr. Thomas LaVeist
Dr. E Horace Smith
Dr. James R. Gavin III,
Dr. Griffin P. Rodgers
Cassandra Smith, MBA
Gary H. Gibbons
Dr. Owen GarrickThe National Black Church Initiative (NBCI), a coalition of 150,000 African American churches, which constitute over 27.7 million churchgoers, has released its National Black Health Agenda Report calling for $2.25 trillion in additional spending for African American healthcare. The report was sent to the White House, GOP, and the 118th US Congress, urging immediate action to address the disparities in healthcare faced by the Black community.
The report highlights the alarming statistics of the current state of African American healthcare, including higher rates of chronic diseases, lower life expectancy, and inadequate access to quality healthcare. It also emphasizes the impact of systemic racism and discrimination on the health outcomes of Black Americans. According to the Washington Post
article titled, “Black Communities Endured a Wave of Excess Deaths in the Past 2 Decades”, America’s Black communities experienced an excess of 1.6 million deaths (not counting the COVID-19 deaths) compared with their White counterparts during the past two decades. This is a devastating loss that comes at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars, according to two recent studies by the JAMA Network that build on a generation of research into health disparities and inequity.
Rev. Anthony Evans, President of NBCI, stated, “The disparities in healthcare faced by the Black community are a national crisis that requires urgent attention. The Black Church must stand up and use its 27.7 million votes to protect the health of Black people in this 2024 election.” Citing the reduced quality of life and economic burden resulting from lack of access to high-quality, affordable healthcare is a primary concern of forty-two million African American voters. Rev Evans continued, “We will vote according to our health interests irrespective of political party. It is time for our government to take bold and decisive action to address these disparities and ensure equitable access to healthcare for all.”
Joseph L. Webster, Sr., MD, MBA, FACP Clinical Director, NBCI American Clinical Health Disparity Commission (ACHDC) added, “At this pivotal moment in the survival of humankind as we know it, the ‘church’ again has stepped up to call upon the seat of Government to ‘heal the land.’”
The National Black Church Initiative is calling for the $2.25 trillion in additional spending to be allocated towards initiatives such as expanding Medicaid, increasing funding for community health centers, and investing in programs to address social determinants of health. The report also urges for the implementation of policies to address racial bias in healthcare and increase diversity in the healthcare workforce.
Since the 1985 Heckler Report, issued by then Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
Margaret Heckler, there have been only words and studies. With expert analysis, for the first time since her report, the National Black Health Agenda has moved to change those words into solid, concrete action, starting in 2025. The NBCI is hopeful that the release of this report will spark meaningful discussions and actions towards achieving health equity for African Americans.
The organization is committed to working with government officials and other stakeholders to
ensure that the needs of the Black community are addressed and that all Americans have access to quality healthcare.
Dr. David Satcher, former director of the Health Leadership Institute and Center of Excellence on Health Disparities at Morehouse School of Medicine and the 16th Surgeon General of the
United States, and Dr. Thomas LaVeist, Dean of the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, have both emphasized the critical need for an investment in African American health for the moral and economic future of our nation. Both leaders emphasized the need for a multifaceted approach to addressing health disparities, including increasing access to quality healthcare, addressing social determinants of health, and promoting health equity. They also called on policymakers, healthcare providers, and communities to work together to create sustainable solutions for improving African American health.
Watch this discussion on the National Black Health Agenda Report with Rev. Anthony Evans,
Dr. Joseph Webster, MD and Dr. James McCoy on YouTube – https://tinyurl.com/blackhealthagenda
The National Black Church Initiative is now inviting submissions of scientific papers for its online publication, Enroll Now Magazine. NBCI publishes Enroll Now Magazine online in conjunction with the American Clinical Health Disparities Commission (ACHDC). Enroll Now regularly includes articles by ACHDC members. Yet this is only one part of its mission. The overarching purpose of Enroll Now is to provide a platform for illuminating critical health data and other information for NBCI’s 27.7 million members and the interested public. Enroll Now achieves this by also publishing: scholarly articles focused on curtailing African American mortality and morbidity; editorials on racial health disparities; notices on clinical trials on behalf of our future partners; and views on clinical trials from members of our congregations. This Call for Submissions is for the areas of interest listed below, and papers may have multiple authors. The submission deadline is June 2026. The review panel, composed of NBCI and ACHDC reviewers, will evaluate all submissions. Please submit your papers for review, and all questions, to:
