Joseph Mikhael, MD, the Chief Medical Officer of the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF), is one of the leading voices addressing disparities in multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that affects Black Americans at twice the rate as White Americans.
Mikhael spearheads IMF’s M-Power Project, which seeks to improve the care delivered to African Americans with this blood cancer. He’s also a Professor in the Applied Cancer Research and Drug Discovery Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. And Dr. Mikhael spends about twenty percent of his time in the developing world, seeking ways to enhance access to myeloma therapies in underprivileged countries.
“It’s wonderful that so much is going on in multiple myeloma, so many great therapies are being developed,” Mikhael says. But it is always important for me to mention, he adds, that despite these great advances, “we still have significant health disparities in multiple myeloma. We know that African Americans are twice as likely to have myeloma and sadly have half the survival of White patients in this country. Part of that is access to these newer therapies.”
“The latest research data show that Black myeloma patients do just as well, or even better than White patients, when barriers to early diagnosis and treatment are eliminated,” Mikhael points out. “These findings have been the International Myeloma Foundation’s call to action.”
Doctors do not typically check patients for myeloma during a regular visit because currently and there are no national screening recommendations for myeloma, he stresses. “That’s why it is so important for Black people to learn about the early symptoms of myeloma and to let their doctors know that they are at higher risk for the disease during regular check-ups.”
The Internet features dozens of talks, videos and papers by Dr. Mikhael about multiple myeloma disparities, including a 2022 seven-part video series “Addressing Disparities and Practicing Multicultural Care in Myeloma.“
Disparity Disruptors are individuals who identify, study, ameliorate and work to end racial and ethnic health disparities.
