# COllaboration for EQuity in Uterine Leiomyomas

> **NIH NIH P50** · MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER · 2024 · $1,585,721

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY - OVERALL
COEQUaL, the COllaboration for EQuity in Uterine Leiomyomas, builds on longstanding collaborations among
women with uterine fibroids (UF) and multidisciplinary researchers at Mayo Clinic, Fibroid Foundation,
University of Mississippi Medical Center and University of Florida, Jacksonville to place the woman with UF
at the center of this project with the overarching goals to improve outcomes for all women with UF and
eliminate health disparities for Black/African American (BAA) women. Our prior research demonstrates
that most women and significantly more BAA women prioritize uterine sparing treatments, yet hysterectomy
continues to dominate UF care. Thus, this proposal aims to identify affected women earlier, understand and
meet their needs, delineate internal and external barriers to care, optimize communication between women
and a variety of health care providers, and use innovative tools to eliminate barriers to individualized care. Our
longstanding collaboration has pioneered the study of health disparities and UF for over two decades. Our
collaboration with the Fibroid Foundation, the leading UF patient advocacy organization, began at its founding
in 2012 and has been present in the conception and design of this proposal. Three projects are proposed: 1)
Targeted Awareness and Education on Options in Uterine Fibroids 2) Articulating provider and insurer factors
that limit outcomes for all women and disparities for BAA women. 3) Developing Innovative Tools to Overcome
Factors that Limit Outcomes for All Women and Disparities for BAA women. The Community Partnership,
Education and Outreach Core, led by the Founder of the Fibroid Foundation, will represent woman with UF at
every stage and be the authoritative educational source of information about ethical, psychological, scientific,
legislative, and advocacy issues related to uterine fibroids via a weekly briefing summary, alerts, podcasts and
multiple modalities of dissemination and will mentor and train the next generation of policy leaders through a
student internship program. The Administrative Core will provide logistic, communication and scientific support
to all work and train the next generation of academic and lay leaders through selection of pilot projects to bring
diverse early-stage investigators into the field and via succession planning within the collaboration. The
findings of COEQUaL will impact every facet of UF care and will improve experience for all women but
especially focus on the health disparities experienced by BAA women. This work will also change the clinical
paradigm for clinical care by creating tools for women, healthcare providers, and healthcare systems to
empower personalized and evidence-based decision making.
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## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10899978
- **Project number:** 1P50HD115283-01
- **Recipient organization:** MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Elizabeth A Stewart
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,585,721
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-06-19 → 2029-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10899978

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10899978, COllaboration for EQuity in Uterine Leiomyomas (1P50HD115283-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-02 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10899978. Licensed CC0.

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