Pfizer grant helps ACS address race-related barriers to cancer care

 

$3.7 million in grants awarded to organizations in 10 U.S. communities

The American Cancer Society and Pfizer have approved grants totaling more than $3.7 million in 10 communities. The grants are focused on reducing racial disparities in care and helping optimize cancer outcomes for Black men and women. The goal is to address systemic race-related barriers and disparities in the delivery of care that impact outcomes across all cancer types. 

The grants are funded by Pfizer Global Medical Grants and overseen by ACS. They are part of the Addressing Racial Disparities in Cancer Care Competitive Grant Program, a three-year collaboration working to promote equity in factors that impact cancer outcomes for Black men and women. 

These grants are the second in a series of three projects funded by Pfizer that aim to reduce disparities. 

The first project was announced in January and is focused on reducing racial disparities for Black women facing a breast cancer diagnosis. Nine grants were approved for funding and will soon start the second year of project implementation. 

Grantees for the third project will be announced in February 2021 and will focus on reducing disparities impacting Black men facing prostate cancer. ACS will lead efforts to establish a learning community among grantees which will include the Project ECHO model. This will provide grantees the opportunities to connect with each other, increasing the exchange of ideas and learnings. 

In a highly competitive process, each applicant was asked to provide local solutions to local problems across the cancer continuum. The awardees will work toward a variety of goals, from increasing cancer screening to support in cancer survivorship, to benefit Black men and women who might otherwise go unserved. 

The awardees chosen for funding beginning in January 2021 are:

• Alameda Health System, CA
• Augusta University Research Institute, GA
• Medstar Health Research Institute, D.C.
• Heart of Ohio Family Health Centers, OH
• Johns Hopkins University, MD
• Montefiore Medical Center, NY
• Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, NJ
• Temple University – Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education, PA
• University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, NC
• The Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, VA

* Shared from MySocietySource.