Health Equity Research Program

Health Equity Research Grants Program

Infographic highlighting success of program, including $1.6 million funded to date

The Health Equity Research Grants Program awards three grants each fiscal year to research trainees and early career faculty at Seattle Children's. The Mentored Scholars Grant, the Seed Research Grant and the Fellows and Residents’ Health Equity Grant each have a slightly different focus. The overall goal of the CDHE grant program is to fund projects with an emphasis on advancing health equity work.

Requests for applications are only open for those affiliated with Seattle Children’s.

  • Mentored Scholars Grant

    The Mentored Scholars Grant has two main goals:

    • To build excellence in our investigative workforce by supporting early career faculty and post-doctoral fellows soon transitioning to faculty positions, who meet the NIH definition for under-represented populations in the U.S. in biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social sciences research, for a two-year period to provide them the protected time and mentorship to be able to successfully apply for external research funding (e.g., NIH K-series Career Development Award).
    • To promote and support clinical, basic, and translational research focused on examining ways to reduce disparities and promote equity in health and healthcare for children and families of underserved populations (e.g., diverse race and ethnicity, those preferring a language other than English, LGBTQ, differently abled, rural, publicly insured, etc.). Preference will be given to those research projects that focus on child health equity although applications whose content is not necessarily directly focused on child health equity research will be considered as well.
  • Seed Research Grant

    The goal of the Seed Research Grant is to promote and support research focused on reducing disparities and promoting equity in health and healthcare for children and families of under-resourced communities (e.g., diverse race and ethnicity, those preferring a language other than English, LGBTQ, differently abled, rural, publicly insured, etc.). Projects are encouraged, but not required, to involve a community-academic partnership.

  • Fellows and Residents' Health Equity Grant

    The goal of the Fellows and Residents’ Health Equity Grant is to provide funding to current fellows or residents who want to do a health equity research project during their training and require additional funding to cover this cost. Our aim is to promote and support research focused on reducing disparities and promoting equity in health and healthcare for children and families of under-resourced communities (e.g., diverse race and ethnicity, those preferring a language other than English, LGBTQ, differently abled, rural, publicly insured, etc.). Projects are encouraged, but not required, to involve a community-academic partnership.

  • Current Awardees

    Congratulations to the FY24 Health Equity Research Grant Recipients! 

    Current Seed Grant

    M. Andrea Oliva, MS, and Arianna Flores-Cisneros, BA

    Surgical Follow-up by Race, Ethnicity, and Language of Care: Exploring Disparities and Mitigating Factors

    Current Fellows and Residents' Health Equity Grant

    China Bolden Jarvis, PhD

    Engaging communities in mental health treatment development: Addressing increased suicidal thoughts and behaviors among youth of color using user-centered adaptation

    Current Mentored Scholars Grant

    Kristine Karvonen, MD

    Caregiver experiences with racism and potential solutions to reduce inequitable pediatric cancer outcomes

  • Past Awardees
    • Exploring Health Equity Concerns in Access to Gender-affirming Care for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Rural Gender-diverse Youth, Gina Sequeira, MD, MS, and Nicole Kahn, PhD, MEd
    • Increasing Access to Evidence-Based Anxiety Treatment for Latino Preschool Children, Cindy Ola, PhD
    • Utilizing Artificial Intelligence to Improve Language Access for Family-centered Rounds, Tiffany Borbón, MD, PhD
    • Association between Sexual and Gender Minority Youth, Social Determinants of Health, and Intentional Self-Harm, Jessica McDade, MD
    • Dissecting the Mechanisms Governing T Cell Function Within the Tuberculous Granuloma to Uncover Targets for Host-directed Therapy, Ben Gern, MD
    • An Intervention to Promote Outdoor Physical Activity and Play Equity via Primary Care, Pooja Tandon, MD, MPH
    • Inequitable Access to the Bedside: Barriers to Family Presence during Pediatric Critical Illness, Mallory Smith, MD
    • The Impact of Post-discharge Telephone calls on Readmissions Disparities, Courtney Gilliam, MD
    • The Experience of Pediatric Home Ventilation for Families from Diverse Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Backgrounds, Holly Vo, MD MPH MSc
    • Culturally-Relevant Rehabilitation for American Indian/Alaska Native Children and Youth, Molly Fuentes, MD (under the mentorship of Tumaini Coker MD, MPH)
    • Adverse Experiences and Resilience in Refugee Families, Beth Dawson-Hahn, MD (under the mentorship of Brian Saelens, PhD and Jason Mendoza, MD, MPH)
    • The Impact of Continuous Glucose Monitors on Lifestyle Behaviors and Glucose Control Among Minority Youth with Type 2 Diabetes, Allison LaRoche, MD, MPH 
    • Cultural Tailoring of a Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Intervention for Spanish-Speaking Caregivers of Children with Special Health Care Needs, Kim Arthur, MPH
    • Sexual Health Technology Among Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Youth, Kym Ahrens, MD, MPH 
    • Fostering Equitable Rehabilitation for Hispanic Children after TBI: Bilingual Health Education Video Development, Nathalia Jimenez, MD, MPH 
    • Understanding Culturally Acceptable and Accessible Developmental and Social Screening for Somali Families, Abigail Grant, MD 
    • Identifying Differences in Structure and Content of Medical Conversations With and Without Interpreters, Kathleen Kieran, MD 
    • HIV Prevention for Street-Involved Sexual and Gender Minority Youth: Understanding Barriers and Facilitators to PrEp Uptake, Raina Voss, MD 
    • Understanding the Impact of a Multidisciplinary Gender Clinic on Mental Health Disparities in Transgender Youth, David Breland, MD, MPH & Kym Ahrens, MD, MPH 
    • Building Community to Address Disparities in Concussion Care for Hispanic Youth, Emily Kroshus, Sc D, MPH 
    • Patient Navigation to Improve Outcomes for Latino Families With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Felice Orlich, PhD 
    • Access to Care for Transgender Youth and Their Families, David Breland, MD, MPH, and Yolanda Evans, MD, MPH
    • Disparities in Functional Outcomes After Inpatient Rehab for Traumatic Brain Injury in Hispanic Children, Marissa Osorio, MD, and Nathalia Jimenez, MD, MPH 
    • Experience of Parents/children of East African Communities Who Received Diabetes Education at Seattle Children's Hospital, Kristi Klee, DNP, RN, CPN 
    • Monitoring Mental Health Outcomes of Diverse Children and Adolescents, Freda Liu, PhD 
    • Pediatric Refugee Nutrition and Food Security, Beth Dawson-Hawn, MD 
    • Understanding Patterns of Interpreter Use in the Pediatric Emergency Department, Casey Lion, MD, MPH