# Determining disparities in treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension nationally

> **NIH NIH F32** · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · 2020 · $80,358

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a severe disease of the pulmonary vasculature characterized by high
symptom burden, significant healthcare utilization, and poor survival. Recently developed targeted therapies
have improved outcomes for patients with PAH; however, the disease remains significantly underrecognized and
undertreated when patients are managed outside of PAH referral centers. Despite the importance of early
diagnosis and initiation of treatment in altering the disease trajectory, little is known about the influences on PAH
care on a population level including potential patient-, environment-, or system-level determinants of treatment
for PAH. Single-center studies suggest that disparities in PAH outcomes may exist among different racial/ethnic
or socioeconomic status groups, though the factors that account for these differences such as disparities in
treatment rates among these populations remain to be determined. Expanding our understanding of PAH care
beyond PAH registry data and single-center cohort studies is essential to close care gaps on a population level.
Administrative data that captures care within a national, diverse, integrated health system such as the Veteran’s
Health Administration (VA) can serve as an important tool to improve our understanding of the delivery of PAH
care in usual community practice and to detect health disparities in PAH. To capitalize on this rich data resource
for this purpose, we must first establish sound mechanisms to identify PAH in administrative data, mechanisms
that are currently lacking in this field. I propose two foundational steps to enhance our understanding of the
drivers of PAH care delivery in the community and to fill currently unmet needs in PAH research: 1) create and
validate algorithms to differentiate PAH from other, more common forms of pulmonary hypertension in
administrative data and 2) identify patient- and facility-level determinants of treatment for PAH. Completion of
this research proposal will advance the field of PAH by generating a collection of validated tools that other PAH
researchers can utilize to better address diverse research questions and by revealing drivers of PAH care
delivery on a population level including racial/ethnic and economic disparities in treatment rates. The results of
this study will establish a foundation on which to build and implement effective strategies to improve treatment
rates and mitigate health disparities for patients with PAH. Meanwhile, the skills I gain through this mentored
research project and complementary didactic training will advance my career goal of becoming a leading
independent investigator focused on identifying and addressing cardiopulmonary health disparities.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10017704
- **Project number:** 5F32HL149236-02
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS
- **Principal Investigator:** Kari Gillmeyer
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $80,358
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2021-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10017704

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10017704, Determining disparities in treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension nationally (5F32HL149236-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10017704. Licensed CC0.

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