Cornell Center for Health EquityPilot projects

Pilot projects

The Center annually provides funding opportunities that sponsor:

  • Four Pilot Research projects ($50,000) that aim to generate pilot data for future extramurally funded research on health equity, or prose scholarly work that advances thinking and/or practices on health equity; with pathways to broader impacts.
  • Four Community Partnership Building projects ($5,000) that aim to establish or strengthen collaborative partnerships that will enable meaningful involvement of community stakeholders in health equity research.
This photo shows an exterior building shot on Cornell University's Ithaca campus.

The vision of the Cornell Center for Health Equity is to nurture durable academic-community partnerships to inform our research agenda, integrate community perspectives into our research, and develop an infrastructure to disseminate and implement the results of our work with the overarching goal of achieving health equity locally, regionally, and nationally.

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The Cornell Center for Health Equity solicits applications on an annual basis for one-year grant support for research or scholarship from Cornell-affiliated investigators.

The primary goal of this opportunity is to support impactful projects ranging from $15,000 to $50,000. Applicants may propose research projects to generate pilot data for future extramurally funded research on health equity, or they may propose scholarly work that advances thinking and/or practices on health equity. In both cases, projects describe pathways to broader impacts.
We strongly encourage all pilot grant applicants to center perspectives from historically marginalized and oppressed populations. This can be accomplished through partnerships with community organizations that serve these populations, data collection methods and procedures that center these voices, or other strategies. The proposed research or scholarship funded through this pilot grant mechanism is intended to be novel, innovative, and impactful with the goal of advancing our Center’s vision and mission.

  • Empowering Black, Latinx, and Indigenous educators with accessible neuroscience to achieve health equity

    Principle Investigators

    Marlen Z Gonzalez, PhD

    Timeline

    July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025

  • Patient Research Engagement in Survivorship, Treatment and Outcomes (PRESTO)

    Principle Investigators

    Shoshana Rosenberg, ScD, MPH

    Timeline

    July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025

  • Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy Patients (SUDEP) in historically under-served patient groups: Leveraging community partnerships for proactive prevention via a public health approach

    Principle Investigators

    H. Allison Bender, PhD, ABPP

    Timeline

    July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025

  • Understanding local information environments of trusted sources for health information in Cameroon to address questions, concerns, and misinformation about malaria vaccines via WhatsApp

    Principle Investigators

    David Scales, MD, PhD

    Timeline

    July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025

  • The role of formulary restrictions in explaining racial and ethnic disparities in the use of newer diabetes medications

    Principle Investigators

    Pragya Kakani, PhD

    Timeline

    July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025

  • Medical Assistants as Interventionists to Improve CVD Prevention Among Black Adults with COPD

    Principle Investigators

    Jamuna Krishnan, MD

    Timeline

    July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025

  • Partnering to Address Health Inequities in Early Childhood Education Teachers’ Health and Wellbeing

    Principle Investigators

    Laura Bellows, PhD, MPH, RDN

    Timeline

    July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025

  • Maternal and Neonatal Health Effects and Sustainability of an Intervention to Promote Family Planning in Partnership with Religious Leaders in Tanzania

    Principle Investigators

    Jennifer A. Downs, MD, PhD

    Agrey H. Mwakisole, M.A., D.I.S.

    Timeline

    July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024

  • Braiding Resources for Applied Action Research to Unpack and Address Barriers to Health Equity (Partner Organization: Tompkins County Whole Health and Cayuga Health)

    Principle Investigators

    Gen Meredith, DrPH, OTR

    Timeline

    July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024

  • Stop the Bleed East Harlem: Improving Health Equity and Characterizing Community Perceptions of Violent Injury (Partner Organization: Exodus Transitional Community Center)

    Principle Investigators

    Elizabeth Gorman, MD

    Sarah Hatfield, MD, MPH

    Kathleen Bernier, LMSW

    Timeline

    July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024

  • Engaging food retailers to improve nutrient-dense food access and food sustainability capacity for marginalized groups in residential urban food environments

    Principle Investigators

    Roger Figueroa, PhD, MPH, MSc

    Katherine Baker, MS, MPH, PhD

    Timeline

    July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023

  • Expanding Understanding of Black Experiences of Gynecologic Cancer: A Nationwide Qualitative Research Project with Survivors and Oncologists

    Principle Investigators

    Amelia Greiner Safi, PhD MS

    Onyinye Balogun, MD MSc

    Timeline

    July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023

  • The Acceptability, Feasibility, and Usability of The Home Optimum Medication Education and Smart Storage (HOPES) Program Medication Safety Training Module

    Principle Investigators

    Rana Sagha Zadeh, PhD

    Timeline

    July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023

  • Collaboration among Health Care, Visiting Nurse, and Meal Delivery Services to Support Population Health and Position the Team to Conduct Implementation Research in Rural Areas

    Principle Investigators

    Karla L. Hanson, PhD

    Timeline

    February 1, 2022 – January 31, 2023

  • Home Opioid Prescription Education and Smart Storage (HOPES) Program in Tompkins and Cortland Counties: Design Meets Medicine to Improve Health and Independence for Older Adults with Dementia at Home

    Principle Investigators

    Rana Sagha Zadeh, PhD

    Timeline

    February 1, 2022 – January 31, 2023

  • Use of a web-based platform (Patient Activated Learning System) to promote knowledge, uptake and completion of HPV Vaccination in the Era of COVID

    Principle Investigators

    Eloise Chapman-Davis, MD

    Timeline

    July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022

  • Addressing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Disparities Among Low-Income Households with Adolescents Using a Novel Telehealth Lifestyle Intervention

    Principle Investigators

    Tashara M. Leak, PhD, RD

    Marisa Censani, MD

    Timeline

    July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022

  • Supporting Community Health Workers in Fighting COVID-19 Misinformation in Low-Resource Environments

    Principle Investigators

    Aditya Vashistha, PhD

    David Scales, MD, PhD

    Antonio P. DeRosa, EdD

    Timeline

    July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022

  • Centering the Marginalized Voices of Black Patients with Gynecological Cancer as a First Step in Healthcare Curriculum Development

    Principle Investigators

    Onyinye D. Balogun, MD

    Amelia Greiner Safi, PhD, MS

    Timeline

    July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022

  • A Collaboration between the Digital Health Patient Activated Learning System (PALS) and the Division of Nutritional Sciences to Develop Nutrition Content for Populations with Health Disparities; A Multisite Pilot Study in New York State

    Principle Investigators

    Patricia Cassano, PhD

    Keith Roach, MD

    Timeline

    July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022

  • Home Care Workers in Rural and Upstate New York

    Principle Investigators

    Madeline Sterling, MD

    Ariel Avgar, PhD

    Timeline

    March 1, 2020 – February 28, 2021

  • Evaluating the Reach Medical model of care on improving health outcomes for people who inject drugs in Ithaca, New York

    Principle Investigators

    Czarina Behrends, MD

    Timeline

    September 1, 2018 – August 31, 2019

  • Understanding the Barriers to Care for Blacks with Symptomatic Arthritis

    Principle Investigators

    Susan Goodman, MD

    Timeline

    September 1, 2018 – August 31, 2019