# Development of a Novel Statewide Learning Collaborative to Increase Lung Cancer Guideline Adherence and Improve Cancer Care Delivery

> **NIH NIH K07** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $167,524

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
 Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the United States, accounting for 221,200
new cases and 158,040 deaths annually (more than colon, breast and prostate cancers combined). Despite
the presence of well-developed guidelines for care, adherence to these recommendations is variable and often
poor. To help hospitals achieve optimal adherence to guidelines, meaningful comparative data on adherence
to measurable quality indicators in lung cancer care must first be gathered in order to identify areas for
improvement. Once such preliminary adherence data are available, assessing specific barriers to evidence-
based care will guide the development of interventions to address the barriers. Once the interventions are
combined into a quality improvement tool, systematic testing of implementation in a range of hospitals will be
needed to assess efficacy, feasibility, sustainability, and generalizability. This project proposes to use a
learning collaborative model to assess barriers to guideline adherence in lung cancer care and identify
solutions. The ultimate goal of the proposal is to improve guideline adherence and decrease unwanted
variation in lung cancer care. Lessons learned through evaluation of hospital adaptation and implementation of
interventions will lead to identification of common principles that can guide diverse types of hospitals in
providing effective, guideline adherent lung cancer care. This work will lead to a generalizable model to assess
cancer care quality, understand the underlying reasons for variability, improve adherence to national guidelines
and disseminate evidence-based best practices.
 The candidate, Dr. Odell, is a board-certified general thoracic surgeon with both a clinical and research
focus on the treatment of lung cancer. His clinical training and prior research experience measuring outcomes
and assessing interventions to optimize lung cancer treatment and working within the Illinois Surgical Quality
Improvement Collaborative (ISQIC) has uniquely prepared him for this proposal. Dr. Odell's career goal is to
become an independently funded investigator who combines advanced quantitative and qualitative analytics
with expertise in implementation and dissemination science to facilitate effective, evidence-based cancer care
though hospital-based programs. To fulfill this goal, he will need specific additional training during this award
period to gain expertise in 3 areas: (1) quantitative evaluation methodology, (2) qualitative research methods,
and (3) implementation and dissemination science. The mentorship team, experienced collaborators,
institutional environment and robust quality improvement infrastructure of ISQIC are ideally suited to these
educational goals. Finally, the project serves as an ideal vehicle for my career development objectives and will
afford Dr. Odell the opportunity to directly apply the skills and techniques learned in qualitative methods,
qua...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10017909
- **Project number:** 5K07CA216330-04
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** David D. Odell
- **Activity code:** K07 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $167,524
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-15 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10017909

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10017909, Development of a Novel Statewide Learning Collaborative to Increase Lung Cancer Guideline Adherence and Improve Cancer Care Delivery (5K07CA216330-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10017909. Licensed CC0.

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