# Harnessing Big Data to Identify Geographic Clusters of Low-income children with Poor HPV Vaccination Rates

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON · 2022 · $1

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Children and adolescents from low-income households are an important focus for human papillomavirus (HPV)
vaccination because the risk of HPV-associated cancers for individuals from low socioeconomic status is
markedly higher (up to 20% for cervical, 20% for oropharyngeal, 17% for vulvar, and 50% for anal cancer). The
HPV vaccine protects up to six cancers (cervical, vaginal, vulvar, oropharyngeal, anal, and penile cancers) and
can reduce the incidence of these cancers by nearly 90% if administered before 17 years of age. However,
vaccination rates are suboptimal in many states. Texas (the state with 3rd highest burden of HPV-associated
cancer in the nation) has underperformed on HPV vaccination. Children from low-income families constitute
half of Texas’ HPV vaccine-eligible population. In 2018, only 30% of the boys and girls from low-income
families had received the recommended doses of the HPV vaccine. The lack of valid and robust area-level (ZIP
code level) estimates of vaccination rates for low-income children and adolescents is a major barrier to
strategizing vaccination efforts in Texas. Addressing these data deficiencies is necessary for mobilizing
resources and invigorating HPV vaccination outreach in Texas. The applicant proposing this K01 research (Dr.
Kalyani Sonawane) is a trained pharmacist and health services researcher who is well-positioned to address
disparities in HPV-associated cancer prevention. Kalyani will receive training in disparities research, advanced
data analytics and visualization, geospatial techniques, and ethics and dissemination under the mentorship of
nationally recognized experts Dr. Xianglin Du (cancer health services research and claims data analysis), Dr.
Anna R. Giuliano (HPV vaccine and HPV-associated cancer prevention), Dr. Maria E. Fernandez
(implementation and dissemination science research to reduce cancer disparities), Dr. Ashish A. Deshmukh
(population health with a focus on HPV and associated cancers), and Dr. Ruosha Li (biostatistical
methodologies for health care data research). This proposal will utilize cutting-edge methods devised for
healthcare data analytics to quantify area-level (5-digit ZIP code level) HPV vaccination rates by harnessing
healthcare claims information of over 4.8 million low-income children and adolescents (Aim 1). Sophisticated
geospatial models will be utilized to identify geographic areas that are underperforming on HPV vaccination
(Aim 2). Subsequently, a novel web-based portal will be created for HPV vaccination data visualization and
disseminating evidence-based HPV vaccination resources to healthcare providers (Aim 3). This K01 award will
provide Dr. Sonawane a structured and tailored mentoring program and resources for synthesizing preliminary
data that will be critical for her to become an independently funded investigator in cancer health disparities
research. The proposed work and subsequent research will invigorate outreach efforts for ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10478955
- **Project number:** 5K01MD016440-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Kalyani Sonawane
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $1
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2022-08-08

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10478955

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10478955, Harnessing Big Data to Identify Geographic Clusters of Low-income children with Poor HPV Vaccination Rates (5K01MD016440-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10478955. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*