# Promoting Diversity and Sustainability in the NIDDK-Supported Research Workforce through Mentoring Early Career Investigators: Focus on Health Equity

> **NIH NIH K26** · CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA · 2024 · $119,561

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The broad, long-term objectives of this proposal are two-fold: 1) to provide high-quality mentoring to contribute
to the career development of trainees from diverse backgrounds and 2) to advance the quality, rigor and
breadth of health equity research in transplantation and pediatric nephrology.
For decades, it has been recognized that Blacks and Hispanics are less likely to receive kidney transplantation
compared with non-Hispanic whites (NHWs), especially from a living donor. Most published disparities studies
have used race/ethnicity as a social construct and attributed differences in transplant access and outcomes to
social determinants of health (SDOH). Yet, assessments of SDOH are often limited to race/ethnicity, health
insurance status and neighborhood poverty level, and most studies are descriptive with few providing
actionable findings to mitigate inequities. Further, proposed interventions are often targeted at the individual
patient rather than the healthcare systems that perpetuate systemic racial bias. Another challenge in achieving
equity in transplant access lies in the limits of national data. Currently, national surveillance registries capture
patients when they begin renal replacement therapy (United States Renal Data System) and when they are
waitlisted or transplanted (Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients), but not what happens during the time in
between when patients must undergo transplant referral and evaluation to be deemed transplant eligible.
Given this context, the transplant community has asserted a call to action to achieve equity in transplantation
by improving rigor, quality and transparency in transplant-related health equity research. Dr. Amaral’s research
proposal seeks to move from describing disparities to achieving equity in transplant access and outcomes
through research that leverages diverse study designs and varied data sources to identify potentially
modifiable healthcare system barriers to transplant access. Two current projects will support this award. The
REACH-TRANSPLANT study (R01 DK120886) examines racial/ethnic inequities that arise during recipient and
living donor (LD) evaluation, LD selection, and LD follow-up. The study has three aims and applies both
primary and secondary data collection, large electronic health records, research cohort data and survey data.
The second project, The House Calls Project, focuses on identifying and addressing adverse social
determinants of health (SDOH) that interfere with pediatric kidney transplant evaluation completion. This study
will use interview and survey data. These studies provide robust training opportunities in health equity research
for Dr. Amaral as a mentor and for mentees across many levels and background, making this proposal ideally
aligned with the overarching goals of the K26 award mechanism.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10917304
- **Project number:** 5K26DK138377-02
- **Recipient organization:** CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Sandra Amaral
- **Activity code:** K26 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $119,561
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-01 → 2028-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10917304

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10917304, Promoting Diversity and Sustainability in the NIDDK-Supported Research Workforce through Mentoring Early Career Investigators: Focus on Health Equity (5K26DK138377-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10917304. Licensed CC0.

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