URMC / Department of Surgery / Research / SHORE / Projects / Health Equity

Health Equity

Health equity is a cornerstone of SHORE's mission. The SHORE Lab is committed to researching and addressing disparities in surgical care, with a focus on minority and health disparity populations. This includes minority racial and ethnic groups (e.g., Blacks/African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Asians, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, defined by the U.S. Census), socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, individuals experiencing incarceration, medically underserved rural residents, and sexual gender minorities. Our work spans various surgical specialties and research areas like outcomes research, community-based participatory research, health services research, health economics, dissemination and implementation sciences, public health, and clinical trials.

Despite advancements in surgical research, disparities persist, leading to significant morbidity, extended hospital stays, and poor outcomes for many patients from health disparity populations. At SHORE we aim to make a scientific contribution to surgical disparities through the development of culturally and linguistically sensitive interventions that aim to alleviate health disparities in surgery.

The SHORE Lab is unwavering in its commitment to addressing these disparities and ensuring that all patients, regardless of their background, receive safe, high-quality surgical care and optimal outcomes. We align with organizations like the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the National Institute of Minority Health Disparities (NIMHD), and we actively engage in the NIH U.N.I.T.E. initiative, focusing on health disparities, diversity, and scientific contributions to improve surgical outcomes. Additionally, we have active partnerships with the All of Us Research Program at the NIH, a program which aims to enhance health equity by ensuring diverse populations are represented in research. Our team emphasizes culturally sensitive interventions and community involvement to reduce disparities in surgery.

Publications

Dhimal T, Cupertino P, Ghaffar A, Li Y, Cai X, Soto C, Ramaswamy M, Herdman BW, Fleming FJ, Loria A. Systematic Review of Surgical Care in the Incarcerated Population: Identifying Knowledge Gaps for Future Research. Annals of surgery open. 2024 June 5(2):e434.

Bowen A, et al. Advancing health equity: A qualitative study assessing barriers and facilitators of implementing hereditary breast and ovarian cancer risk screening tools in community-based organizations. Journal of genetic counseling. 2023 October 32(5):965-981.

Rivera MP, Gudina AT, Cartujano-Barrera F, Cupertino P. Disparities Across the Continuum of Lung Cancer Care. Clinics in chest medicine. 2023 September 44(3):531-542.

Gudina AT, Kamen C, Cheruvu VK, Cupertino P, Rivera MP. Understanding Factors Associated with Uptake of Lung Cancer Screening among Individuals at High Risk. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved. 2023 34(2):719-730.

Katragadda C, Fung C, Yousefi-Nooraie R, Cupertino P, Joseph J, Kim Y, Li Y. Medicare Accountable Care Organizations: Post-acute Care Use and Post-surgical Outcomes in Urologic Cancer Surgery. Urology. 2022 Sep;167:102-108. doi: 10.1016/j.urology.2022.06.018. Epub 2022 Jun 28. PMID: 35772480.

Holloway MR, Cai X, Simning A, Cheng Z, Li Y. Changes in Income and Household Spending During Early Months of COVID-19 Pandemic Reveal Racial and Ethnic Disparities Among Older Adults. Harv Public Health Rev (Camb). 2021 Oct 13;48:https://hphr.org/48-article-holloway/. Epub 2022 Jan 13. PMID: 35935036; PMCID: PMC9351986.

Li Y, Cai X, Mao Y, Cheng Z, Temkin-Greener H. Trends in racial and ethnic disparities in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes among nursing home residents. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2022 Aug;43(8):997-1003. doi: 10.1017/ice.2021.246. Epub 2021 Jun 16. PMID: 34130766; PMCID: PMC8220019.

Valera P, Acuna N, Alzate-Duque L, Liang LE, Cupertino P, Merulla J. The Development and Prototype Feedback of Digital Cancer 101 Videos to Enhance Cancer Education for Marginalized Communities With Limited Health Literacy. Cancer Control. 2021;28:10732748211006055. doi:10.1177/10732748211006055

Li Y, Cen X, Cai X, Temkin-Greener H. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19 Infections and Deaths Across U.S. Nursing Homes. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2020 Nov;68(11):2454-2461. doi: 10.1111/jgs.16847. Epub 2020 Sep 28. PMID: 32955105; PMCID: PMC7537079.