The American Cancer Society (ACS) and Flatiron Health recently presented the 2021 Real-World Data Impact Awards, which will support research into health disparities among patients with advanced pancreatic and breast cancers.
This year marks the third year of the joint grant-making program, under which ACS-funded researchers can apply for additional funding and access to Flatiron real-world data. Eligible applicants are ACS awardees experienced in health services and observational research who are encouraged to submit proposals that address health disparities.
The 2021 grants have been awarded to:
Shannon Lynch, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Cancer Prevention and Control at Fox Chase Cancer Center, will study patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, investigating possible differences in the time to first treatment; number of lines of chemotherapy; first- and second-line therapy regimens; and hospice use by race, ethnicity, and insurance status.
Dawn Hershman, MD, MS, FASCO, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Columbia University, will study how the use, toxicity, and efficacy of oral antineoplastic drugs impacts Black and Hispanic patients, compared with non-Hispanic White patients, with advanced breast cancer.
Roger Anderson, PhD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Virginia, will explore patterns of care related to tumor, patient, and demographic characteristics focused on the use of CDK4/6 inhibitors for patients with hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer.
Focusing on Health-Care Disparities
“Flatiron Health is honored to partner with ACS to leverage Flatiron’s electronic health records–derived real-world data to advance research toward better and more equitable cancer treatments and outcomes,” said Rebecca Miksad, MD, MPH, Senior Medical Director at Flatiron Health. “Real-world data can help the field learn more about health disparities to inform effective action to address them.”
“Cancer is a disease that affects everyone, but we know that cancer doesn’t affect everyone equally and that some groups bear a disproportionate cancer burden due to disparities,” said William Cance, MD, FACS, ACS Chief Medical and Scientific Officer. “The research grants awarded by Flatiron Health will use real-world data to focus on the critical area of cancer disparities and help identify ways to ensure high-quality cancer care for everyone.”
The 2021 Real-World Data Impact Award grantees will each receive $75,000 and access to a Flatiron de-identified data set derived from the health records of patients with cancer treated in both community clinics and academic medical centers specific to their research questions. Additionally, awardees will have access to Flatiron and ACS clinical and methodologic experts.
