Health Inequities Research Grant Program

About

Health inequity is not only an ethical failing of the U.S. healthcare system but a costly one. As the available data grows and payment shifts from fee-for service to models based on treatment value and patient outcomes, now is the time to determine how to address underlying inequity in care delivery through more effective use of data and reimbursement models. PTEC, as a coalition of private businesses, health researchers, and advocates, is well positioned to work toward to narrowing known health disparities by developing evidence to inform policy and practice change to promote more effective and equitable use of diagnostic tests, vaccines, and medicines.The Coalition aims to determine how value-based care and outcomes measurement could be reformed with health equity as a goal.

PTEC is committed to developing methods for the collection and use of data in support of efforts to decrease health inequity in the U.S. healthcare system. Novel approaches and inspired collaborations are necessary to identify ways to measure and reward more equitable health outcomes. PTEC is particularly focused on solutions for vaccine equity and conditions that disproportionally affect racialized communities (Black, Latinx, Asian, and Native American), such as cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders.

The Health Inequities Research Grant Program provides $50,000 in grant support and data access (as needed) for research studies that harness the power of data to identify metrics, outcome measures, or payment models that can be used to encourage practices that decrease inequity in the healthcare system. Research supported by the Health Inequities Research Grant Program is not intended to be merely descriptive, but to identify inequitable practices or outcomes and propose a data-driven solution.

 Research Grant Awards 2021-2022

“Community-Level Variations in Care Quality Inequities for Chronic Medical Conditions and the Role of Opioid Use Disorder”

PI: Stephen Crystal, PhD; Board of Governors Professor in the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, School of Social Work

Co-PI: Jennifer Miles, PhD; Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Social Work, Rutgers University

Analytical Tools for Measuring Health Care Equity: Preventable Hospitalizations for Cardiovascular Disease among the US Medicare Population”

PI: Andrew Anderson, PhD; Assistant Professor, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine

“Addressing Bias in Homeless Status Detection to Reduce Ethnicity-Based Disparities in Service Linkage and Chronic Disease Management”

PI: Melissa Chinchilla, PhD, MSHPM, MCP; AltaMed Institute for Health Equity

“Leveraging Data to Understand and Address Disparities in Vascular and Diabetes Care”

PI:  Julie Sonier, MPA; MN Community Measurement (PI)

 Research Grant Awards 2022-2023

“Advancing Health Equity through Data and Community Informed Strategies to Improve Care for Individuals with Cardiovascular Disease and Unmet Social Needs”

PI: Dawn Wiest, PhD; Director of Research & Evaluation; Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers

Co-PI: Mei Fu, PhD, RN, FAAN; Camden School of Nursing, Rutgers University

Improving Correctional Health Services to Reduce Racial Disparities in Hypertension Among Black Men”

PI: Marcella Alsan, MD, MPH, PhD; Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University

Co-PI Crystal Yang, JD, PhD; Bennett Boskey Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

“Leveraging Information-rich Focus Groups to Construct Culturally Tailored Interventions to Achieve Health Equity in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Disease among Insured, Low-Wage Workers in Rural North Carolina”

PI: Ashley E. Burch, PhD; Assistant Professor, Department of Health Services and Information Management, Department of Internal Medicine, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University

Breast Cancer Health Inequities Research Grant Program

Although it is clear that the inequity of the U.S. healthcare system adversely affects breast cancer patients from communities of color, the reasons for the disparities resulting from this inequity are complex. Disparities may be due to socioeconomic status, geography, biological risk factors, or social determinants of health, or some combination thereof. Furthermore, women of color, particularly Black women, are more likely to develop breast cancer before 60 years of age, and have a higher prevalence of difficult-to-treat subtypes (such as triple-negative breast cancer). Racial/ethnic bias and systemic racism may also contribute to the different breast cancer trajectories for white women and women of color.

Identifying innovative and implementable changes to practice and policy that will decrease disparities and increase equity among breast cancer patients is of critical importance as the racial/ethnic diversity of the United States continues to increase. This work is imperative not only as a matter of social justice but also to create a more patient-centered breast cancer care system that results in better value for all stakeholders.

PTEC is proud to have Gilead Sciences as a partner in our efforts to advance efforts to decrease health inequities in the United States. To expand our efforts to support novel research targeting conditions with a disproportionate impact on Black, Latinx, and Native American communities, PTEC will facilitate the selection and distribution of Gilead Sciences-sponsored research grants. The Program awards three $50,000 grants to projects focused on research studies that harness the power of data to identify metrics, outcome measures, or payment models that can be used to encourage practice or policy change that decrease inequity in breast cancer screening, treatment, and outcomes.

Breast Cancer Research Grant Awards 2022-2023

“Relationship between Perceived Discrimination and Utilization of Breast Health Care Services among African American Women 18-50 in Mississippi”

PI: Sandra C. Melvin, DrPH, MPH, MLS; Institute for the Advancement of Minority Health

Co-PI: Wendy White, PhD, MPH Associate Professor/Co-Investigator Tougaloo College

“How Racism and Discrimination in the Healthcare System Shape Breast Cancer Screening Experiences and Metrics”

PI: Monique Gill, PhD, MPH; Research Scientist, Center for Outcomes Research and Education

“Impacting Breast Cancer Health Inequities in Early Detection and Prevention Through Targeted Outreach and Education”

PI: Renea Duffin, Vice President Cancer Support and Outreach; Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center