University of Alabama at Birmingham Associate Division Director of Gastrointestinal Surgery and Selwyn M. Vickers, M.D., FACS, Endowed Chair Daniel Chu, M.D., MSPH, FACS, FASCRS, has been recently awarded his second R01 research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Chu is the principal investigator for the project entitled Adapting Enhanced Recovery Programs (ERPs) through Health Literacy to Eliminate Surgical Disparities.
The project was awarded $2,581,619 in research funding over the next five years.
About the Study
Low health literacy affects over a third of surgical populations and is associated with significantly worse outcomes in surgery. In previous studies, Chu has shown that enhanced recovery programs (ERPs) mitigate racial disparities in surgical outcomes and offer a pragmatic way to address surgical disparities.
Additional research conducted by Chu’s lab found that existing ERPs work poorly for patients with low health literacy who are still experiencing worse surgical outcomes.
Through a previous NIH K23, Chu and his team developed a novel multilevel strategy to address the needs of surgical patients with low health literacy. This strategy, called VISACT, focuses on engaging patients with visual aids, coaching providers in communication, and training organizations in health literacy.
With this R01 award, Chu and co-investigators will adapt existing ERPs to the contextual needs of low health literacy populations in surgery using the VISACT strategy. This project will also deliver an interactive response platform to better educate patients and providers on ERPs and health literacy. Ultimately, a durable and long-term solution will be devised to help eliminate disparities and improve outcomes for low-health literacy populations in surgery.
Additional researchers for this project include:
Co-Investigators
• Larry Hearld, Ph.D.
• Joshua Richman, M.D., Ph.D.
• Isabel Scarinci, Ph.D., MPH
• Michael Rubyan, Ph.D., MPH (University of Michigan)
Advisors
• Joy Deupree, Ph.D., MSN, CRNP, WHNP-BC
• Mona Fouad, M.D., MPH
• Terry Davis, Ph.D. (Louisiana State University)
Research Residents
• Bayley Jones, M.D., and Burke Smith, M.D.
Research Team
• Arundhati Sawant, M.D., and Lauren Wood, MSPH
Coordinator
• Kaycee Hair
About the Chu Research Lab
The Chu Research Lab focuses on identifying, understanding, and reducing health disparities in surgery. His team is passionate about training the next generation of surgeons and surgical researchers and has mentored over 40 trainees including high school, graduate school, and medical school students, in addition to U.S.-based and international residents and fellows since 2014.
As Vice Chair for Health Services Research, Chu is a dedicated researcher and advocate for improved patient health literacy practices. He is also an NIH Health Disparities Research Institute scholar and a previous R01 grant awardee from the NIH.