# Overcoming Racial Disparities in Curative Therapies for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

> **NIH NIH K23** · INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS · 2022 · $152,508

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
 Lauren D. Nephew MD, MA, MSCE's long-term career goal is to become an independent, externally
funded researcher and leader in developing multilevel interventions to reduce disparities in access to
treatments for liver disease and gastrointestinal malignancies. She has identified improving access to curative
therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as a critical issue to address to achieve this goal. This proposal
describes a 4-year comprehensive program of training and mentored research for an academic career in
health services research with a special focus on advancing health care equity. This is in line with NIDDK's
commitment to combating health disparities. While Dr. Nephew has a strong background in epidemiology, this
K23 will provide key training in using human centered design research methods for intervention development,
randomized controlled behavioral trials, and implementation of interventions within health systems.
 Black patients with chronic liver disease are approximately 50% less likely than White patients to
receive curative therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) even when presenting with early stage disease.
Reasons for disparities in mortality are in part related to failure to progress through the complex HCC care
continuum to access curative therapies as a result of the unequal distribution of social and structural
determinants of health (SSDOH). The HCC-EduLink intervention we propose to develop is designed to: a)
improve patients' HCC-related knowledge; b) screen patients for social needs and substance use and refer to
social work for linkage to local services; and c) use our multidisciplinary HCC tumor board to facilitate linkage
to subspecialty HCC cancer care. The objectives of this application are to develop the education program
component of the HCC-EduLink intervention and pilot test the full multi-level intervention designed to address
patient- and system-level SSDOH variables and facilitate access to HCC curative therapies in a cohort of Black
patients HCC. Dr. Nephew's multidisciplinary mentorship team including a world-renowned gastroenterologist,
an expert in interventions to reduce cancer disparities, and a behavioral health statistician will provide expert
guidance to complement her course work and experiential learning. The environment including the Indiana
University Simon Cancer Center, Clinical and Translational Science Institute, the Eskenazi Safety-net Hospital
and the Indiana University Academic Health Center, make this an ideal environment for her training and to
complete the proposed aims. Upon completion of the proposed research and training, Dr. Nephew will submit
a competitive R-level grant to test the pilot intervention in a larger randomized trial and will possess the skills
and experience needed to make a sustained and impactful contribution to reduce HCC mortality through
evidenced-based interventions in other vulnerable populations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10572610
- **Project number:** 1K23MD018090-01
- **Recipient organization:** INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS
- **Principal Investigator:** Lauren Nephew
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $152,508
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-25 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10572610

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10572610, Overcoming Racial Disparities in Curative Therapies for Hepatocellular Carcinoma (1K23MD018090-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10572610. Licensed CC0.

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