The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) recently received a large federal grant to study "structural racism" in childhood cancer care.
According to usaspending.gov, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded UAB a $661,845 grant in January 2025 for "unpacking structural racism" in the quality of end-of-life (EOL) care for children with cancer.
According to a description of the grant, UAB "Will examine the role of structural racism in explaining the observed racial and ethnic disparities in quality of EOL care among children with cancer."
"Will address the following aims: AIM 1: Examine the role of structural racism in the observed racial and ethnic disparities in quality of EOL care. AIM 2: Develop and validate a prediction model to identify children at risk of receiving poor-quality EOL care. AIM 3: Explore how structural racism influences quality of care and identify potential interventions. Upon completion of this proposal, we will have critical data about the role of structural racism in disparities in EOL care, a method to identify those who are most vulnerable, and potential interventions that could mitigate these disparities," a description of the grant states.
The study will gather data “about quality of EOL care via electronic health record (EHR) abstraction and bereaved parent surveys. Variables related to structural racism will include access to care (psychosocial support, household material hardship, payor, and neighborhood characteristics), Patient-healthcare interaction (English proficiency, medical literacy, medical discrimination, education, and neighborhood characteristics), and toxic stress (everyday discrimination, resilience, and neighborhood characteristics).”
The study ends in 2029.
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