NIH Grants Support Research on Health Disparities Reduction

In an effort to address the harmful effects of structural racism on health, 60 predominantly Black neighborhoods in Philadelphia will be part of a study to assess the impact of a multi-component intervention addressing both environmental and economic injustice on health and well-being.

The Philadelphia research program, led by Penn Medicine researchers Eugenia C. South, M.D., M.H.S.P., and Atheendar Venkataramani, M.D., Ph.D., is part of a larger initiative of the National Institutes of Health, which has awarded 11 grants totaling $58 million over five years to support new research ideas that focus on interventions to address health disparities and advance health equity.

The NIH Common Fund is supporting the work through its “Transformative Research to Address Health Disparities and Advance Health Equity” initiative. NIH said the grants are innovative because the applications focused on the significance of the research problem, the novelty of the idea or approach, and the magnitude of the potential impact rather than on preliminary data or experimental details.

“It is unacceptable for persistent and pervasive health inequities to continue despite the scientific advancements and knowledge base we have achieved,” said NIH Director Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., in a statement. “This research effort will catalyze novel interventions and hasten the opportunity to put evidence into action for populations affected by health disparities.”

Each of the awards includes an innovative intervention component and focuses on one or more NIH-designated populations that experience health disparities in the U.S., including the following examples:

• Community-based research collaborations will develop and test financial interventions that address structural racism in neighborhoods predominantly populated by African American residents and examine spiritual healing and stress reduction interventions for youth from racial and ethnic minority communities to prevent chronic disease outcomes.
• Telehealth-driven or technology-assisted interventions have surged in the wake of COVID-19 and will be integrated into several of the community-based interventions for physical and mental health.
• Technology-enhanced approaches will be designed to advance cancer health equity among diverse deaf, deafblind, and hard-of-hearing populations.
• Researchers will also develop and evaluate a new model of school-based, telehealth-driven preventive care to prevent health disparities in underserved rural and socioeconomically disadvantaged children.

At the community level, the Philadelphia study includes tree planting, vacant lot greening, trash cleanup, and rehabilitation of dilapidated, abandoned houses. For households, the study will help connect participants to local, state, and federal social and economic benefits, including food, unemployment, and prescription drug assistance, provide financial counseling and tax preparation services, and offer emergency cash assistance.

“Previous efforts to reduce racial health disparities have been less impactful than we would like because they often only address a small number of the many mechanisms by which structural racism harms health," explained Venkataramani, an assistant professor of medical ethics and health policy and director of the Opportunity for Health Lab, in a statement. “Our multi-component intervention is designed to address these multiple mechanisms all at once.”

The researchers also aim to make it easier for individuals to navigate the process of determining their eligibility and getting help from multiple providers through development of a platform that makes collaboration between community financial service agencies simpler and more efficient. Community partners, including the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Campaign for Working Families, Benefits Data Trust, and Clarifi, will implement the interventions.

Additionally, the NIH initiative expects to expand the research base for health disparities research at minority serving institutions (MSIs). A dedicated funding opportunity was specifically designed for MSIs, which the NIH Common Fund plans to reissue in fiscal year 2022 to support additional projects.