Penn Medicine-Led Research Team Awarded $2.9 Million to Study Heart Disease and Cancer in Black and Hispanic Communities

From Philly Voice: Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania will lead a nationwide effort to learn more about why cancer patients and survivors from Black and Hispanic communities are more susceptible to developing heart disease — and how to address that disparity. Penn Medicine on Monday announced that its Cardio-Oncology Translational Center of Excellence was awarded $2.9 million from the American Heart Association to fund the project, which will be carried out over the next four years by 30 researchers around the country. With a scarcity of evidence in cardio-oncology, the team hopes to “define how the sociologic construct of race and genomic ancestry are associated with and determine cardiotoxicity in breast and prostate cancer,” said Dr. Kevin Volpp, director of the Penn Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics. “Using a range of innovative approaches like gamification and digital health, we want to deliver new ways to bridge disparities in care in historically underserved Black and Hispanic cancer survivors,” Volpp added. Read the full story in Philly Voice.