The Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative (CTSC) of Northern Ohio at Case Western Reserve University requests applications for pilot research funding to increase diversity in clinical trials and enhance community engagement by addressing barriers to clinical trial participation. Up to 10 pilot grants will be awarded, with award amounts up to $20,000.
Applications will be accepted from faculty at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth Medical Center, University Hospitals, the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Administration Medical Center, Northeast Ohio Medical University and The University of Toledo. Proposed studies must include at least two different CTSC institutions.
Community engagement seed funds are also embedded in this pilot to encourage meaningful collaborations with the community. These seed funds will be given to projects that are co-led by academia and the community (i.e., with one co-principal investigator being from one of the CTSC partners and the other from the community).
Required research equity, accessibility, diversity, and inclusion (READI) consultations must be scheduled and take place no later than Friday, Nov. 10. Applications must be submitted electronically via InfoReady no later than Friday, Nov. 17, at 11:59 p.m.
According to the National Institutes of Health, one way to address the lack of diversity in clinical trials is by addressing barriers to participation. Lack of diversity in clinical trials results in a shorter lifespan, for historically excluded communities, due to lack of data on new discoveries that could prevent disease and compound health disparities, increased economic burden on individuals (e.g., less disability-free life) and institutions (e.g., fewer years with a viable workforce) and more. Challenges with recruitment and retention, including study burden (e.g., number of visits, transportation, travel, invasiveness of procedures), distrust (e.g., of medical institutions, researchers), lack of knowledge and understanding about the clinical research process (e.g., informed consent process) and fear of risk and randomization.
In response to these challenges, the CTSC has created READI Clinical Trial Barrier Elimination Pilot Funding Opportunity to support new research initiatives that will make immediate progress toward increasing diversity in clinical trials.
The goal is to provide research teams with resources to test a new, and ideally novel, method of eliminating one or more barriers to clinical trial participation among historically excluded, underserved communities and special populations with intersectional emphasis on: race/ethnicity (i.e., African American/Black, Hispanic, Latino/a), sex/gender (e.g., LGBTQ+, women), rural communities, older adults and people with disabilities.
Priority will be given to projects that have a high impact on expanding knowledge or developing new knowledge on existing challenges with eliminating barriers to clinical trial participation amongst those groups. Teams must propose a plan for implementing their barrier elimination solution in the future.