Credit: Cynthia Dong
The Penn Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics has announced the 14 recipients of small grant funding for healthcare research projects.
The annual program will provide up to $20,000 for LDI senior fellows and $5,000 for assistant fellows. Pilot grants are awarded to various projects in the early stages of research that would not otherwise qualify for funding from the National Institutes of Health or other institutions.
According to LDI’s application criteria, proposals are selected based on their potential impact, methods, themes, and investigators. Although the projects cover a wide range of issues, each aligns with the focus areas and initiatives of LDI, including access, equity, the treatment of older adults, the opioid epidemic, and population health.
The reliance among researchers on small grants may increase given the recent uncertainty surrounding the NIH’s cuts to indirect costs, which help cover overhead expenses such as lab spaces and support staff.
Each project will investigate aspects of healthcare — from medical expenses and access to care to the quality of different treatments. The proposals are also intended to encourage collaboration between different researchers, disciplines, and institutions.
With funding from the grant program, fellow and Wharton assistant professor of Health Care Management Diane Alexander will examine how physicians have responded to the legalization of medical marijuana. Alongside researchers Benjamin Schwab and David Slusky, Alexander will use pharmaceutical data to understand the impact of medical marijuana on a physician’s decision-making.
Perelman School of Medicine assistant professor Lauren Eberly will similarly utilize the pilot grant to launch an investigation into cardiovascular health within the Navajo Nation reservation. Eberly’s LDI project will focus on the implementation and evaluation of a “community-designed, culturally tailored culinary education program.”
Eberly was also awarded the American Society for Clinical Investigation Young Physician-Scientist Award for her research and clinical care contributions in January. The CEAR Core also provides early-stage research grants for investigations into public health.
Other projects will focus on the accessibility of certain healthcare medications, the application of emergency resources to combat climate change, and the performance gaps of machine learning models, among other topics. Previous LDI grant projects have included investigations into equitable mental health care, the financial struggles of cancer patients, and the collection of gender identity data.
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