Edition: U.S. / Global  The World: Skin Deep; Shouldn't a Pill
Be Colorblind?  Published: May 13, 2001  THE race gap in heart
disease is well known: blacks are far more likely than whites to
suffer heart failure, and they often fail to respond to the most
popular hypertension drugs. So last week, a team of
cardiologists from around the country convened in Atlanta to put
the finishing touches on plans for the first clinical trial to
test a heart medicine designed exclusively for African-
Americans.  The study, which has been authorized by the Food and
Drug Administration, will enroll only blacks. It is being
sponsored by NitroMed Inc., the drug's maker, and the
Association of Black Cardiologists, which represents 500 black
heart specialists.  ''It is in the name of science that we
participate,'' said B. Waine Kong, the association's chief
executive.  It is in that same name that others denounce the
very idea that race should figure in scientific research. This
despite the fact that the NitroMed study comes as t