Cancer in U.S.

The Foundation collaborates with clinic- and community-based service providers to improve health outcomes among underserved populations with cancers.

Lung Cancer

In the U.S., lung cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, with African Americans suffering significantly higher incidence and mortality rates and with marked regional variations. Bridging Cancer Care™ supports pilot projects that seek to reduce the burden of lung cancer among minority and underserved populations through innovative models of prevention, detection and education. It also helps people living with lung cancer access and navigate cancer care and community-based survivorship services.

Learn more through the U.S. Bridging Cancer Care Backgrounder >

Success Stories

Changing the Ways We Approach Lung Cancer

Kentucky LEADS works to better understand and assist underserved lung cancer patients

Reducing the Fear of Lung Cancer Screening

Using community engagement to increase awareness and reduce the fear and stigma attached to testing.

Preparing for Survivors

Patient-centric care empowers lung cancer survivors to choose what matters most

Training Community Members to Raise Awareness of Melano

Community networks serve migrant farmworkers at high risk for skin cancers.

Bridging Cancer Care in the U.S. and in Central & Eastern Europe

In the U.S., our Bridging Cancer Care™ initiative will be active in the states in the Southeast determined to have the highest lung cancer burden. Bridging Cancer Care will focus grantmaking on pilot projects that aim to reduce the burden of lung cancer among minority and underserved populations through innovative models of prevention, detection and education, and by helping those living with lung cancer to access and navigate cancer care and community-based support services.

In Central and Eastern Europe, the Foundation’s Bridging Cancer Care™ initiative is working with partners in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Russia to improve cancer nursing skills and to engage nurses to increase education and awareness and to improve cancer outcomes in their communities.

Learn More >

Our Grantees

Lung Cancer in the U.S.

In the U.S., Bridging Cancer Care™ will focus grantmaking on pilot projects that seek to reduce the burden of lung cancer among minority and underserved populations through innovative models of prevention, detection and education, and by helping people living with lung cancer access and navigate cancer care and community-based survivorship services.

View the U.S. Bridging Cancer Care Backgrounder

A Breath of Hope Lung Foundation

A Breath of Hope Lung Foundation (ABOHLF) will receive $200,000 over two years to develop an Animated Patient’s Guide to Lung Cancer which will build and implement an interactive, highly visual, evidence-based e-learning web resource for patients with lung cancer as well as their families and care givers to promote better understanding and management of lung cancer among the most vulnerable. (Read More)

American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society will receive $1.25 million over three years to develop and implement a lung cancer screening navigation program in partnership with three federally qualified health centers/community health centers to increase lung cancer screening rates and timely access to specialists following a positive screening result. (Read More)

American Cancer Society Comprehensive Lung Cancer Patient Support Program (CLCPSP)

The American Cancer Society (ACS) will develop and implement a Comprehensive Lung Cancer Patient Support Program (CLCPSP) that will provide an evidence-based, multi-level intervention that promotes high quality, patient-centered coordinated care to lung cancer survivors in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, West Virginia, South and North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. ACS will work with several expert teams including cancer information specialists, resource coordination specialists, health insurance assistance specialists, clinical trial matching specialists and oncology nurses to ensure that patients receive comprehensive support along the continuum. (Read More)

American Lung Association

The American Lung Association’s Smoke Free Public Housing Initiative will receive $1,500,000 over 18 months to develop a comprehensive approach to supporting the implementation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) new smoke-free public housing rule across 10 states. ALA will provide technical assistance supports that will ensure PHAs finalize and implement the smoke free housing in a manner which maximizes staff and resident compliance, and, it will utilize a peer based system of education and support among PHA resident case managers, to link residents to nearby smoking cessation and lung screening programs. (Read More)

Avera McKennan

Avera McKennan will receive $1,616,255 over three years to implement a pilot program Increasing Lung Cancer Screening for High Risk Smokers in a Frontier Population and investigate the effectiveness of increasing lung cancer screening among high-risk smokers in the medically underserved frontier population in western South Dakota, a region which is primarily comprised of low income whites and American Indians living on reservations and in rural communities. This type of education and research of its effectiveness has never been done within this population and will aid in producing evidence-based policy recommendations that are specific to serving this vulnerable group. (Read More)

Georgia Cancer Center, Augusta University

The Georgia Cancer Center will receive $1,736,147 over three years to support and implement its cancer-Community Awareness, Access, Research and Education (c-CARE) module to enhance lung cancer awareness, prevention, care and supportive community services in the Central Savannah River Area of Georgia. The primary target population is adult African American smokers and former smokers who are eligible for low-dose computed tomography screening as early detection for lung cancer. The c‐CARE initiative was developed to reduce the burden of lung and other preventable cancers among minorities and medically-underserved populations in the central Savannah River Area of Georgia. (Read More)

Levine Cancer Institute

The Levine Cancer Institute will receive $1.6 million to support the Lung B.A.S.E.S. (Bringing Awareness, Screening & Education to improve Survivorship) 4 Life program, an innovative model that will feature the nation’s first mobile unit for early identification of lung cancer coupled with comprehensive education, navigation and clinical intervention for better outcomes for lung cancer patients. (Read More)

Lung Cancer Alliance

Lung Cancer Alliance will receive $1,599,300 over three years for the Alabama Lung Cancer Awareness, Screening & Education program (ALCASE) which will design and implement a community-based model to reduce the burden of lung cancer in 7 underserved, primarily African American counties in Alabama through capacity building, outreach, education, screening, and support. (Read More)

LUNGevity

LUNGevity will receive $636,235 over 2 years to implement Project ACTS (Adherence to CT Screening), a collaboration between academics, clinicians, and a patient advocacy group that aims to increase adherence to follow-up low-dose computerized tomography (CT) screening for those high-risk individuals who represent with lung nodules in their initial scan, or who do not present with nodules in the initial scan but require annual follow-up, by developing a procedure and tool for the screening centers responsible for patient follow-up. (Read More)

Mississippi Public Health Institute in partnership with Greenwood Leflore Hospital (GLH)

Mississippi Public Health Institute will receive $751,820 to implement Survive 2 Thrive - Community Based Survivorship Care for Lung Cancer Patients, an innovative patient-centered, evidence-based community care model that will leverage nurse navigators, social workers for case management, and community health workers for improving outcomes and quality of life for lung cancer survivors in the Mississippi Delta region. (Read More)

National Minority Quality Forum

The National Minority Quality Forum’s project Lung Cancer Screening Quality Improvement in Kentucky will receive $209,356 to pilot a program to test adaptation of a QI model to enhance lung cancer screening among underserved and increased risk populations, to form a model for statewide and national dissemination. The program will include training of 20 primary care practice leaders in the Kentucky LEADS tools, quality improvement, patient engagement and team-based care approaches. These will be utilized to achieve the overall goal of developing a strategy for sustainably increasing tobacco use counseling and lung cancer screening referrals in primary care offices serving underserved and at risk patients. (Read More)

Patient Advocate Foundation

Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF) will implement activities in West Virginia to develop a Lung Cancer MedCare Line aimed at increasing awareness about lung cancer screening and empowering lung cancer patients by linking them to the necessary case management support to overcoming non clinical barriers to care for better health outcomes. (Read More)

The Department of Veteran's Affairs, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Vista Expertise Network and the IELCAP Foundation

The McGuire Research Institute, Carl T. Hayden Medical Research Foundation, Houston VA Research and Education Foundation, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the International Lung Cancer Action Program Early Detection and Treatment Foundation (IELCAP) and Vista Expertise Network will receive $5,828,550 over three years to collaborate on the Partnership to increase Access to Lung cancer Screening (VA-PALS) Implementation Network. The project will improve Veterans’ access to lung cancer screening through implementation of the evidence-based I-ELCAP screening program and protocol at 10 VA medical centers. (Read More)

The Institute for Medical Research

The Institute for Medical Research at the Durham VA will receive $935,766 over two years to develop and pilot a comprehensive lung cancer survivorship program that will provide a coordinated approach to management of life after lung cancer and address depression, debility, and tobacco use while ensuring appropriate surveillance through an integrated electronic medical record for veterans serviced by the Durham VA. (Read More)

University of Kentucky, University of Louisville and Lung Cancer Alliance

Kentucky LEADS, a statewide comprehensive cancer control coalition that includes the University of Louisville, the University of Kentucky and the Lung Cancer Alliance, will receive $7,022,269 over three years to create a community-engaged collaborative program to promote lung cancer survivorship and improve lung cancer patient outcomes. Each of the program’s three components will be led by expert academic and community partners. (Read More)

University of Louisville

The University of Louisville's LEADS (Lung Education, Awareness, Detection and Survivorship) National Center for Primary Care will receive $1,595,051 over 3 years to establish the first national effort to educate providers, through intermediary organizations, on lung cancer. The goal of the Center is to institute a national education and training epicenter to improve lung cancer care across the continuum of disease, starting with improvements in screening uptake and adherence to guidelines. The Center will develop partnerships with national health systems, professional organizations, and other groups to widely disseminate best practices and implementation tools. (Read More)

University of South Carolina College of Nursing

The University of South Carolina College of Nursing will receive a grant for $750,000 to develop a statewide network of community and clinical stakeholders with an interest in lung cancer referred to as Partners in Quality Lung Cancer Survivorship, and to adapt and test the feasibility and preliminary effects of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) intervention called Breathe Easier. The long-term goal is to improve clinical outcomes for survivors of localized lung cancer and their family members. (Read More)

West Virginia University Cancer Institute

West Virginia University Cancer Institute will receive a two-year $727,677 grant to implement "Bridge to Good Living: Thriving beyond Lung Cancer", an innovative, interdisciplinary survivorship program that is patient-driven affording the opportunity for lung cancer survivors stages 1-3 to thrive during the lung cancer experience – from diagnosis, treatment, life after treatment, recurrence, and end-of-life care if needed. The innovative program model will include: establishment of a monthly, interdisciplinary survivorship care clinics; enhances the current surveillance system for recurrence of the primary and/or secondary cancer(s); monitors and manages physical, psychosocial effects of diagnosis, treatment, and after effects; provides health education about screening recommendations and follow-up, survivorship issues, and community resources; assesses patient’s attitude toward smoking cessation and offers intervention options. (Read More)

Access to Cancer Care for Vulnerable Populations in the U.S.

The Foundation’s new Specialty Care for Vulnerable Populations initiative is addressing gaps in the U.S. healthcare system that can lead to Medicaid, uninsured and underinsured people with lung cancer or skin cancer significantly delaying care, falling out of care or – worst of all – not receiving the care recommended for them.

View Our Specialty Care Backgrounder

Anne Arundel Medical Center

Anne Arundel Medical Center received a grant of $1.25 million for a three-year project to expand its Rapid Access Chest and Lung Assessment Program (RACLAP) to provide timely diagnosis and management of abnormal chest findings for residents living in Anne Arundel, Calvert and Prince George counties. (Read More)

Association of Community Cancer Centers

The Association of Community Cancer Centers received a grant of $4.27 million for a three year project to develop the Optimal Care Coordination Model, to improve the access and quality of care provided to Medicaid patients with lung cancer treated in community oncology practices. (Read More)

Farmworker Justice

Farmworker Justice (FJ) received a grant of $1,100,000 for a two-year project entitled Unidos Eliminando Barreras para la Prevención de Cáncer de la Piel (United Eliminating Barriers to Skin Cancer Prevention) to promote community integration and reduce impact of skin cancer among farmworkers and their families. (Read More)

FSG

FSG, a mission-driven, non-profit consulting group received a grant of $1.35 million for a three-year effort to develop and disseminate a foundational and engagement white paper for the initiative, Breaking Barriers to Specialty Care: Practical Solutions to Improve Health Equity and Reduce Cost (June 2016) This effort will also provide ongoing technical assistance to grantees to develop sustainability plans and robustly engage payers, health plans, health systems and quality organizations in designing and executing those plans. (Read More)

Harvard Law School Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation

Harvard Law School Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation received a grant of $564,235 for a three-year effort to provide technical assistance in areas of policy recommendations on federal, state, and health plan levels to grantees under the Specialty Care for Vulnerable Populations and Bridging Cancer Care U.S. initiatives. (Read More)

Jefferson Health

Jefferson Health, an integrated health system and safety net providers in Philadelphia, received a $2.9 million grant to support a citywide effort to change the culture of lung cancer in the city by reducing the stigma, increasing health care provider knowledge and cultural competency, improving service flows, and connecting individuals at high risk for lung cancer with screening programs focusing on low incoming, African American, and recent Asian immigrant populations. As part of a $20 million initiative to improve pulmonary health, Jefferson has already secured an additional $14 million in philanthropic investment from individual donors, foundations, and corporations. (Read More)

Maine Medical Center

Maine Medical Center will be the lead grantee of the Maine Lung Cancer Prevention and Screening (LungCAPS) Initiative, the first statewide multi-institutional and multidisciplinary approach. This $5 million, four-year grant will expand access to lung cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment services for vulnerable, rural, underserved patient populations in the entire state of Maine. (Read More)

Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes)

Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) was awarded $10 million for a multiyear initiative to bring high-quality care to cancer patients living in rural and underserved areas. This initiative uses telemedicine to pair doctors at NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and academic medical centers with those in community hospitals and health delivery centers. (Read More)

Ralph Lauren Cancer Center

Ralph Lauren Cancer Center, in partnership with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, received a grant of $604,582 for a two-year project to pilot a lung cancer screening and continuum of care access program for underserved and high risk populations in Harlem and northern Manhattan. (Read More)

University of California Davis and HALO Clinic

University of California Davis, in a collaborative partnership with the Health and Life Organization will prospectively identify and follow Asian American patients across the cancer continuum to improve cancer prevention and control behaviors for lung, liver, GI and colorectal, cervical, and breast cancer and to create a New Patient Referral service between a FQHC-lookalike and NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center. (Read More)

University of California Irvine Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

The University of California Irvine Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (CFCCC) will build a formal collaborative network as a hub/spoke model between community organizations, CalOptima primary and specialty care providers, and UCI’s specialists to provide more efficient and effective cancer care for low income MediCal Vietnamese, Korean, and Chinese patients in Orange County, California. (Read More)

University of California San Francisco

University of California San Francisco will create an in-person and virtual-based patient navigation program to enhance the quality of cancer care for English, Chinese, and Vietnamese patients newly diagnosed with colorectal, liver, or lung cancer in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. (Read More)

University of Hawai’i

The University of Hawai’i will strengthen telehealth infrastructure, provide cancer education and case management through Project ECHO, and train community health workers to improve delivery of cancer services and outcomes for Native Hawaiians and the US Affiliated Pacific Island communities of Guam, American Samoa, and the US Commonwealth of the Northern Marina Islands. (Read More)

Yale Cancer Center

Yale Cancer Center a NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, received a $1 million grant to build a Cancer Disparities Firewall to develop and implement bioinformatics tools, longitudinal patient navigation, clinical partnerships with community primary care providers and community health worker outreach to remove barriers to optimal cancer treatment and care in New Haven County targeting lung, breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer. Yale School of Public Health is a funding and collaborating partner and is contributing $116,734. (Read More)

Other Cancers