The NPCRC awards grants to investigators conducting research projects aimed at relieving suffering and achieving the best possible quality of life for patients living with serious illness and their caregivers. The Pilot Project Support Grants are designed for mid-senior investigators to help them develop pilot data for larger externally funded research projects. The Junior Faculty Career Development Awards are designed to provide funding to promising junior investigators to protect their time for research.

In a collaborative parallel initiative with the NPCRC, the American Cancer Society (ACS) also supports pilot projects in palliative care and cancer modeled on the NPCRC’s program. View the ACS Grantees.

2008 Grantees

Wendy G. Anderson, MD, MS

Assistant Professor
University of California, San Francisco
The goal of Dr. Anderson's research is to identify communication techniques that address patients and family members’ informational and emotional concerns, thereby reducing anxiety.  This work will form the basis for an educational intervention to teach hospitalists skills for communicating with patients and their families about end-of-life issues.

Elisabeth Potts Dellon, MD, MPH

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Dr. Dellon will describe physicians’ perspectives on the timing and content of discussions about the use of intensive treatments for patients with advanced cystic fibrosis lung disease.

Kathleen Puntillo, DNSc, RN, FAAN

Professor of Nursing
University of California, San Francisco
Dr. Puntillo will develop, implement, and evaluate an ICU nurse-driven intervention for patients’ symptoms that will involve ICU patients’ family members in the assessment and the non-pharmacological management of patients’ symptoms.

Greg Sachs, MD

Professor of Medicine
Indiana University School of Medicine
Dr. Sachs will evaluate the feasibility of incorporating an outpatient palliative care program for patients with dementia into the primary care setting.

Joseph Shega, MD

Assistant Professor
Northwestern University
Dr. Shega will investigate relationships among cognitive impairment, non-cancer pain, and functional status in community dwelling seniors.

2007 Grantees

Robert Arnold, MD

Professor of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Dr. Arnold will examine ways to improve the ability of intensive care physicians-in-training (critical care fellows) to communicate effectively and empathetically about end-of-life topics.

Melissa D. Aldridge Carlson, PhD, MBA, MPH

Instructor
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Dr. Carlson's research evaluated the quality of care provided by a national sample of hospices and documented substantial variation in the scope of services received by patients enrolled with hospice.

Marcia Grant, DNSc, RN

Professor and Director of Research
City of Hope National Medical Center
Dr. Grant will conduct a pilot study that will use the treatment advance of intra-peritoneal (IP) chemotherapy for patients with advanced ovarian cancer to demonstrate how disease focused cancer treatment can be best accomplished in concert with palliative care.

Kimberly Johnson, MD, MHS

Assistant Professor of Medicine
Duke University School of Medicine
Dr. Johnson's research project will examine racial disparities in hospice use and will allow her to determine which policies and programs are associated with greater service to African Americans.

Helene Starks, PhD, MPH

Assistant Professor
University of Washington School of Medicine
Dr. Starks’ research will evaluate the referral processes and outcomes of two hospital-based palliative care consult services.

Christina Ullrich, MD

Attending Physician, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology
Dana Farber Cancer Institute / Children's Hospital Boston
Dr. Ullrich will examine symptom management in children with advanced cancer, specifically focusing on the symptom of fatigue which causes significant suffering but is often under-treated in children.

Sheryl Zimmerman, PhD

Professor of Social Work
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Dr. Zimmerman will examine the suitability of measurement scales used to assess the quality of dying in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.