Description
We report results from 276 ethnically diverse participants who participated in the online "Promoting Equity in Stem Cell Genomics Survey" during the six months collection period from February 2014 to August 2014. Novel stem cell technologies such as induced pluripotent stem cells provide tools for drug development and for cell therapy. A survey instrument was developed to determine individuals' knowledge of and attitudes towards stem cell technology. The survey was composed of questions related to the different types of stem cells, the properties of stem cells and the use of stem cells for health disparities, global health and pharmacogenomics research and included questions about respondents' demographic information: The majority of the respondents identified as White (49%), with the remaining identifying as Black or African American (28%), Asian (13%), of multiple races (6%), one identified as American Indian or Alaskan Native and 4% did not report their ethnicity. Almost all respondents 99.3% (n =274) had previously heard of stem cells and 83% (n= 229) of respondents had prior knowledge about human embryonic stem cells but only 34.4% (n =95) of respondents had prior knowledge about induced pluripotent stem cells. There were significant associations (p ≤0. 05) in knowledge by ethnicity regarding, the properties of stem cells, the different types of stem cells, and previous sample donation behavior. significantly more Whites 89.7% (n =122) compared to 70.3% (n =52) Black or African Americans had previous knowledge of hESCs (_2 = 12.745 p = 0.001); and significantly more Whites 39% (n =53) compared to Black or African Americans 19.2% (n= 14) had previous knowledge of induced pluripotent stem cells (_2 =8.544 p= 0.003) Overall, White ethnicity was associated with the most knowledge and most willingness to donate samples for future research. The results of this survey imply differences in knowledge and attitudes by ethnic group which may be harnessed to create ethnically tailored recruitment materials and informed consent towards increasing sample donation among Black or African Americans
