Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation, in collaboration with Pfizer Global Medical Grants, announced two new grants totaling $1,000,000 to support quality improvement projects to address disparities in delivery of care and treatment outcomes for patients of color with metastatic breast cancer (mBC).

This program is part of the ongoing partnership between Conquer Cancer and Pfizer Global Medical Grants, powered by Conquer Cancer’s EveryGrant® program. EveryGrant is an end-to-end, white label solution that helps organizations develop and deliver grant programs that attract the brightest researchers and make a difference for people with cancer everywhere. Since the first collaboration in 2021, Pfizer, Conquer Cancer, and ASCO’s Regional Councils have collaborated on additional quality improvement projects with the shared goal of improving patient care on a global scale including Latin America, South East Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. 

This investment is the latest phase of the Pfizer Global Medical Grants program “Equitable Care of Metastatic Breast Cancer (mBC) Patients: A Phased Approach to Understanding and Addressing Healthcare Disparities for People of Color”. Recipients of the first phase of funding, which supported research projects designed to identify certain disparities within their health systems, were invited to submit quality improvement proposals to address specific needs and learnings identified in their projects. These proposals aimed to translate the lessons learned from the completed research projects into meaningful, quantifiable, and sustainable solutions to help address disparities experienced by mBC patients of color with a particular focus within their health system.

Application review and evaluation was led by Conquer Cancer, and grant funding will be provided by Pfizer Global Medical Grants. Application submissions were available only to organizations based in the U.S. The project term for these grants is September 2023 through August 2025. 

The awardees are:

Katherine Reeder-Hayes, MD, MBA, MSCR
University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Promoting Resilience in Stress Management for Metastatic Breast Cancer (PRISM-MBC)

Dr. Reeder-Hayes will implement a remotely-delivered resilience intervention (Promoting Resilience in Stress Management, PRISM) among a diverse group of recently diagnosed metastatic breast cancer patients. Their team will assess how PRISM impacts patient reported outcomes as well as social and biological outcomes. If successful PRISM-MBC can improve resilience, enhance positive aspects of the cancer journey, and improve quality of life and mental health outcomes of people living with mBC.

Shoshana Rosenberg, ScD, MPH
Weill Cornell Medicine
Implementation and Evaluation of RAISE (Routine Assessment and Integration of Screening for Employment) for adults with metastatic breast cancer

Dr. Rosenberg and Dr. Laura Pinheiro will develop, pilot and evaluate the RAISE (Routine Assessment and Integration of Screening for Employment) tool to assess the employment-related challenges associated with a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis. Employment disruptions are a frequently reported, but understudied, challenge experienced by patients with advanced cancers. The project will screen ~200 mBC patients in New York and provide educational resources paired with navigation to help patients minimize employment disruptions related to cancer treatment. The findings of this project will optimize the RAISE tool and facilitate its expansion to additional settings. 

Conquer Cancer and Pfizer Global Medical Grants are dedicated to helping reduce disparities among patients of color diagnosed with mBC and encourage others to join us in this meaningful work. Learn more about Conquer Cancer's EveryGrant program.