VIDEO: Healio Rising Disruptor investigates health equity, ‘barriers to liver transplant’
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In a Healio video exclusive, Lauren Nephew, MD, MSCE, winner of the 2022 Healio Rising Disruptor Award, discussed her continued work in moving the needle toward health equity in hepatology, specifically for liver transplantation and cancer.
“I hope to continue to innovate in the field of hepatology, specifically in the space of health equity,” Nephew, assistant professor of medicine in the division of gastroenterology and associate vice chair of health equity at the Indiana University School of Medicine, said. “I would say that there are two threads that I'm most excited about in my research program; one of those is trying to explore and understand the barriers to liver transplant for black and low [socioeconomic status (SES)] patients with liver cancer.”
Her current research includes a qualitative study to understand the challenges patients face in liver transplantation care. After speaking directly to patients and getting their point of view of the barriers they personally face, she hopes to develop interventions for patients informed by their responses.
Additionally, Nephew is attempting to broaden the clinical understanding of how to get patients to transplant “earlier and more appropriately,” especially those patients living in communities that lack access to appropriate care or transplant centers.
“Outside of the liver cancer space, there are a number of people with chronic liver disease who just are not making it to academic centers to be transplanted, specifically in marginalized communities,” she said. “We know that there are many disparities in transplantation, but I think many of these are upstream of the academic center in the community. I want to understand what those barriers are for [both] physicians and patients so that we can develop tools to help facilitate that process.”
The 2023 Healio Rising Disruptor Award winner will be announced in October during the Healio Disruptive Innovators ceremony at ACG 2023 in Vancouver, Canada.
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