United States: Decoding Disparities QuickFire Challenge

Deadline: 25-Jun-21

Johnson & Johnson Innovation, in collaboration with Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC, is proud to launch the Decoding Disparities QuickFire Challenge.

Areas of Interest

• Data Integration aspect of population health management to:
  • Identify gaps within communities of color that are amenable to change
  • Provide actionable insights to inform potential targeted interventions and resource development
  • Barriers to equitable access to health care across the patient journey including the patient/physician level and clinical encounter:
  • Seeking care: Cultural or SDOH related barriers, symptom awareness/recognition, enablement of care-seeking behaviors
  • Getting diagnosed
  • Treatment decision-making: access to primary/specialty care, access to evidence-based interventions, barriers to initiating and maintaining treatment
  • Physician/Patient relationship
  • Appropriate support to enable patient to access, fulfill, and adhere to treatment to maximize benefits and minimize risks
• Johnson & Johnson Innovation is seeking innovative ideas to better understand health disparities in therapeutic areas of interest to the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, with priority focus areas including:
  • Mental Health: Black populations are disproportionately impacted by some mental health conditions such as schizophrenia and may experience detrimental medical, emotional, and physical effects due to racial profiling, among other factors. However, African American mental health patients tend to be underdiagnosed, misdiagnosed, and untreated when compared to the general U.S. population.
  • Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD): The incidence of IBD are increasing in non-white populations while at the same time, Black and Hispanic populations are growing in the U.S., one of the countries where the disease is most predominant. Recent trends indicate a change in the epidemiology of IBD, with previously low-incidence areas reporting a continuous rise in incidence. Studies also point to correlation between disease-specific knowledge, disease perception, and patient trust to potentially improve patient engagement and adherence to IBD-related therapies. It is therefore important to fully understand the epidemiology and progression of IBD in different racial and ethnic groups, and the effects of race and ethnicity on access to care, utilization of resources, and disease-related outcomes.
  • Cardiovascular Disease: Both Black and Native American populations have been found to be disproportionately impacted by peripheral artery disease (P.A.D.) — a condition in which plaque builds up in the leg arteries – resulting in higher rates of amputation. In addition, Native Americans have been found to be substantially more likely to undergo amputation than are non-Hispanic Whites, even after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, patient comorbidities, and hospital characteristics.

Funding Information

• In order to potentially accelerate promising methodologies or technologies, the innovator(s) with the best data-driven concepts, tools, or technologies aiming to better detect, understand, or reduce disparities prevalent in health care will receive grant funding in increments up to $200,000, $100,000, or $50,000, access to the global Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS network and mentorship from experts at the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies.

Eligibility Criteria

• This challenge invites U.S.-based innovators – including entrepreneurs, health systems experts, technologists, researchers, academia, and students –  to submit data-driven methodologies or technologies aiming to better detect, understand, or reduce the root causes of health inequities and inform the crucial next steps they need to take towards achieving equity.

For more information, visit https://jlabs.jnjinnovation.com/quickfire-challenges/decoding-disparities-quickfire-challenge