AAP receives $1.7M to research health care disparities

ByRose Weldon

Fact checked byCarol L. DiBerardino, MLA, ELS

Key takeaways:

The AAP has received more than $1.7 million to research equity-focused health care.
The funds will support a project examining race-conscious approaches to pediatric care policies and research.

The AAP has received a grant of more than $1.7 million to support research in addressing health care disparities for children and adolescents.

The grant was awarded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a nonprofit that describes itself as being committed to improving health and health equity in the United States and focuses on addressing barriers to health, particularly structural racism and its intersection with other forms of discrimination.

Schoolchildren 2 (Adobe Stock) — The AAP has received a grant of more than $1.7 million to support research in addressing health care disparities for children and adolescents. *Image: Adobe Stock*

In a press release, the AAP said the 2-year grant would fund a project titled “Building a Race-Conscious Approach to Strengthening Pediatric Policy and Research,” which will establish a scholars’ network to “support those engaging in culturally effective, equity-focused research,” and “foster a supportive ecosystem for health equity research and researchers.”

“The AAP and its supporters are proud to lead the way toward achieving a vital goal — to ensure that each child receive equitable, affirming and anti-racist pediatric health care,” Joseph L. Wright, MD, MPH, FAAP, chief health equity officer for the AAP and the University of Maryland Medical System, said in the release.

Wright is also lead author of the AAP’s policy statement on eliminating race-based medicine. Published in June 2022, the statement says:

All professional organizations and medical specialty societies should identify and critically examine organizational policies and practice guidelines that may incorporate race or ethnicity as independent variables or modifying factors.
The AAP will leverage its relationships with medical schools, academic health systems, schools of medicine and accrediting bodies to ensure health equity curricular content, including a specific focus on the elimination of race-based medicine.
The academy will critically examine, deconstruct, retire, if necessary, and revise all practice guidelines and/or policies that include race assignment as a part of clinical decision-making.

“This grant supports research that promises to improve the health of all families, by examining ways to make organizational changes that filter down to individuals seeking medical care,” Wright said.

“We are very pleased to take these steps toward achieving equity in health care,” Janna Patterson, MD, MPH, FAAP, senior vice president for global child health and life support at AAP and the project's co-principal investigator, said in the release. “Together, we envision improvements in the medical field that will benefit generations to come.”

In recent years, the AAP and its Pediatrics journal have frequently addressed disparities in pediatrics. A study published in August found that pediatric faculty diversity at medical schools does not reflect the diversity of patients.

“We believe that scholars from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences can be a powerful force in evaluating current systems and recommending improvements,” Wright said. “Pediatricians who have been underrepresented in medicine will have opportunities for mentorship, sponsorship, training and networking during this process.”