Leukemia & Lymphoma Society awards more than $2M to Fox Chase researchers
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The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society awarded a research team at Fox Chase Cancer Center a nearly $2.4 million grant to improve clinical trial access for patients, particularly those from underrepresented groups, across the Temple Health system.
The program — dubbed RECONNECT: Overcoming Racial and Ethnic Inequity in Clinical Trial Enrollment Via Clinical Trial Nurse Navigation and Provider Communication Training — will feature a novel training system for providers and specialized screening and preenrollment services for patients. RECONNECT is expected to run for 5 years, according to a press release.
Shazia K. Nakhoda, MD, assistant professor in the department of hematology/oncology and a member of the hematology-lymphoma program; Linda Fleisher, PhD, MPH, research professor in the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program; and Zachary Frosch, MD, MSHP, assistant professor in the department of hematology/oncology and the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program — all at Fox Chase Cancer Center — will aim to address three training strategies and their effects on the diversity of clinical trial participants. The strategies include a formal, evidence-based, stakeholder-guided and highly participatory course; another course on educating providers in cultural competency and bilingualism; and a third multilevel intervention that combines the two courses.
“I am incredibly honored to have won this award,” Nakhoda said in the release. “I’m so grateful to be part of an institution that is so committed to improving equitable care and has greatly supported my team in applying for this grant. One of the key missions of Temple Health and Fox Chase is to provide equitable care to all our patients, regardless of race and ethnicity. The funding through this grant will help us to better understand how we can achieve this mission.”
“While cancer can impact anyone, the unfortunate reality is that equitable access to high-quality, affordable treatment and care is out of reach for many, and no other organization is funding research specifically on equity in access for [patients with] blood cancer and survivors,” Eric Cooks, PhD, senior director of LLS’s Equity in Access Research Program, said in the release.
“As a leading cancer nonprofit, LLS is committed to transforming lives through our holistic approach across research, patient support, and advocacy, which includes advancing health equity and eliminating health disparities,” Cooks added. “This research is a first step toward helping all patients and survivors achieve meaningful access to the treatment and care they need when they need it.”
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