EGRP-Supported Health Disparities Research

Overview

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has targeted the reduction of cancer-related health disparities as an important challenge. Health disparities are differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and burden of cancer and related adverse health conditions that exist among specific population groups in the United States. These population groups may be characterized by gender, age, ethnicity, education, income, social class, disability, geographic location, or sexual orientation. The goal is to understand the causes of health disparities in cancer and develop effective interventions to reduce or eliminate them.

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Funding Opportunities

There are not currently any specific EGRP-sponsored or co-sponsored Requests for Applications (RFAs) or Program Announcements (PAs) for health disparities research; however, related NIH Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) are available.

EGRP joins with other NCI Divisions, Offices, and Centers and other Institutes and Centers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund grant applications submitted in response to FOAs. View the full list of EGRP FOAs.

EGRP also encourages investigator-initiated grant applications on health disparities topics.

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Funded Projects

The Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program (EGRP) supports a variety of research addressing health disparities. To learn more about EGRP's health disparities research portfolio, view a list of EGRP's active health disparities grantsExternal Web Site Policy.

Cohort Studies

Ongoing, large, investigator-initiated cohort studies have and will continue to be critical to understanding the determinants of cancer incidence and mortality in underserved populations. These studies involve collection of extensive health information and biological specimens from thousands to tens-of-thousands of persons from different population groups who are then followed over time to determine cancer occurrence or death from cancer.

Examples of cohort studies funded at least in part by EGRP which are contributing to the understanding of cancer-related disparities include:

Case-Control Studies

Case-control studies are another commonly used approach in epidemiologic research. In case-control studies persons with cancer and persons without cancer are compared in terms of genetic, lifestyle and other factors, such as race and ethnicity, age, gender, socioeconomic status, and geographic location. Comparisons within case-control studies, such as by ethnic group, can provide key insights into differences in cancer risk. EGRP supports many case-control studies. One project, funded by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), is investigating prostate cancer incidence and mortality among African-American men, a population with particularly high rates. Learn moreExternal Web Site Policy.

Cancer Epidemiology Consortia

EGRP also supports cancer epidemiology consortia to complement individual investigator-initiated studies. Data and resource sharing by consortia members promotes the rapid replication of research results from individual studies.

Examples of EGRP-supported consortia studying specific populations include:

View a complete list of EGRP-supported consortia.

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Research Resources

Two large research resources sponsored by EGRP which recruit participants and collect data (which can be requested by investigators) from a variety of population groups are:

EGRP and the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) supports regional studies or tools which include research that compares populations with respect to the distribution of risk factors and cancer risk.

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Contacts

For general questions about NCI's interest in health disparities, EGRP contacts include:

Last Updated: 09 Jan 2013

Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences National Cancer Institute Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health USA.gov