Multiracial individuals' perspectives on participating in genetics research

The vast majority of genetics research is confined to a relatively narrow subset of the global population, limiting the benefits of this research. Recommendations to ameliorate this issue frequently include calls to recruit diverse populations through community engagement, an approach that has been effective in genetics, but has not explicitly included Multiracial individuals, despite this being the fastest-growing population in the United States. As such, this study explored Multiracial individuals' perspectives on: (1) what "Multiracial community" means; (2) concerns regarding ancestry-based genetic testing; and (3) preferences for engaging in different stages of translational genetics research. Fourteen adults who self-identified as Multiracial participated in semi-structured interviews. We used deductive coding from study aims and inductive, iterative coding to identify new themes. Participants expressed diverse ideas about what characterizes the Multiracial community, and lacked clarity on definitions. Common concerns about genetics research included the accuracy of genetics research in its application for Multiracial individuals and the limitations of research to capture their diverse backgrounds. Participants preferred to be engaged during research design, recruitment, and result interpretation and communication. Participants suggested recruiting future study participants from younger, urban regions and emphasized that this is a multifaceted heterogeneous group that cannot easily be categorized. We describe the perspectives of Multiracial individuals, who are often excluded from genetics research because their diverse social identities do not fit traditional methods of categorization. This provides a foundation for developing tailored approaches to recruit and engage Multiracial participants in genetics research, ensuring future studies better reflect human diversity.