Moffitt Shines a Light on Its Efforts to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities
Health care disparities have been a long-standing issue, dating back centuries. While most would associate disparities with just race and ethnicity, it goes beyond that, also being linked to socioeconomic status, geographic location and access to quality care.
Disparities exist in all aspects of health care, even cancer care. Knowing that this is a growing issue, Moffitt Cancer Center has made it a priority to conduct research that focuses on underserved communities and create several initiatives such as the George Edgecomb Society.
Launched in 2017, the George Edgecomb Society was created as a way for donors to help address the growing concerns of cancer health disparities by ensuring equitable health outcomes and the elimination of health care disparities among the most vulnerable populations.
One important element of the society is that it is a dedicated funding source. It provides researchers with the opportunity to explore innovative ideas and collect essential pilot data — work that often serves as the foundation for larger applications to national funding agencies such as the National Institutes of Health. By supporting early stage research, the George Edgecomb Society enables studies that might not otherwise receive funding, ultimately helping to broaden the impact and inclusivity of cancer research.
Tiffany Carson, PhD
A key aspect that sets George Edgecomb Society funding apart is the active involvement of its steering committee, which is made up of community members. From the very beginning, the committee has played an integral role in shaping the program, contributing to the design of the review process and helping to select the final projects for funding.
Since 2018, the program has awarded 18 grants to researchers, helping them kickstart their studies. This has helped investigators like Tiffany Carson, PhD, a researcher in Moffitt’s Department of Health Outcomes and Behavior principal study investigator, who says the funding has enabled her to expand her research beyond primary cancer prevention to now include strategies for promoting secondary prevention and enhancing cancer survivorship among Black breast cancer survivors.
“Decades of research have shown that certain groups have a higher incidence of cancer and worse outcomes compared to others. Support from the George Edgecomb Society has enabled me to pursue critical research aimed at understanding the root causes of these disparities and develop strategies to improve outcomes for those most affected,” Carson said.
Seed funding from the Geroge Edgecomb Society has accelerated Carson’s research on improving cancer survivorship outcomes for Black breast cancer survivors with obesity and elevated stress levels. Her study tests the feasibility and acceptability of a 16-session behavioral intervention that combines weight loss and stress management strategies. The study will assess changes in weight, allostatic load (a measure of stress on the body) and patient-reported outcomes before and after the intervention. Study results are expected this summer.
Additionally, the funding has allowed Carson to formally solidify a new collaboration with one of the nation’s leading experts on cancer morbidity and mortality among Black women, whom she has been trying to work with for many years.
As Carson wraps up the intervention study, she’s preparing to share her findings in both academic and community settings.
“The data generated from this pilot study will serve as a strong foundation for our next steps,” she said. “It will enhance the competitiveness of a larger grant application to support a fully powered trial, which, if successful, could establish our intervention as an effective strategy. I plan to submit this next grant application in late 2025.”
For Carson and many other researchers, early stage support like the George Edgecomb Society pilot grants is crucial for creating lasting impact and improving health outcomes in underserved communities. In today’s challenging funding landscape, early support grants play a vital role in helping researchers carry out foundational work that can lead to long-term impactful programs focused on reducing health disparities.
