Dear Colleague,
This month, we’re pleased to announce two pieces of good news: the legislature’s final budget includes a $12.4 million investment from Governor Newsom to expand CIAPM’s ACEs research program, and the release of CIAPM’s 2020 Annual Report. Through our partnerships with numerous community groups, researchers, advisors, professional organizations, and officials across the Newsom Administration, we accomplished important work to address health disparities and advance precision medicine in California despite the substantial challenges presented by the pandemic. Find more details below.
June is Pride Month in California, so we also highlight some of the health challenges and barriers specific to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities. And finally, make sure to read to the end for a list of upcoming precision medicine events and external funding opportunities, and a few open positions at our partner agency, the California Strategic Growth Council.
In celebration,
The CIAPM Team
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2020 Annual Report to the California Legislature |
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The Governor's Office of Planning and Research is pleased to announce the release of CIAPM's 2020 Annual Report to the California Legislature.
In a year defined by a pandemic, a national reckoning over racial injustice, and increasing climate-related disasters including devastating wildfires and several months of extreme heat, CIAPM continued to lead and participate in wide-ranging, cross-agency efforts to further medical sciences, elevate community partnerships, and engage experts in helping to shape the next chapter of health and wellbeing in a modern era of scientific and inclusive leadership.
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CIAPM staff have prepared this report to showcase 2020 programmatic and project highlights, which include:
- Advancing the state’s response to COVID-19 by contributing time and expertise as members of the Governor's COVID-19 Testing Task Force and the Governor’s Future Opportunities Task Force
- Establishing and convening the California Precision Medicine Advisory Council, in coordination with the Senate, Assembly, and California Health and Human Services Agency
- Launching two Advisory Council working groups focused on 1) integrating data about Social Determinants of Health into electronic health records, and 2) engaging with underrepresented communities to increase participation in biomedical research
- Co-authoring and supporting the release of the first-ever California Surgeon General's Report.
- Adding to OPR’s capacity to address systemic racism by participating in the Capitol Collaborative on Race and Equity, and continuing to fund research that directly addressed health disparities
- Expanding programmatic communications and outreach with a new monthly newsletter and public-facing resources on the CIAPM website
- Engaging the wider precision health community by speaking at national and international conferences and participating on panels
The full report is available to download on our website. Briefings on the report were delivered to the legislature and stakeholders on June 17, available to view here.
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California Legislature Allocates $12.4 Million for ACEs Research |
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On June 15, the California State Legislature passed a state budget that includes Governor Newsom’s proposed $12.4 million investment to expand CIAPM's ACEs research program. The investment will build on the first round of awards announced in March 2021, to launch a total of seven demonstration projects across the state. All projects begin this summer. The Governor has until the end of June to sign the budget bill. |
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“While there has been remarkable progress towards acceptance and equality in recent years, members of the LGBTQ community in the United States and around the world still face an unacceptable level of discrimination and violence.... We must push back against those who threaten the safety of LGBTQ Californians and challenge our progress.”
According to the California Department of Public Health, “Members of [LGBTQ] communities, similar to other communities, experience some distinct health concerns. Some of the health issues that affect everyone can affect LGBT[Q] individuals differently.”
HealthyPeople.gov states that LGBTQ health requires specific attention from health care and public health professionals to address a number of disparities, including:
- LGBTQ youth are more likely to experience homelessness and are 2 to 3 times more likely to attempt suicide.
- Lesbians are less likely to get preventive services for cancer.
- Gay men are at higher risk of HIV and other STDs, especially among communities of color.
- Transgender individuals have a high prevalence of HIV/STDs, victimization, mental health issues, and suicide. They are also less likely to have health insurance than heterosexual or LGB individuals.
- Elderly LGBTQ individuals face additional barriers to health because of isolation and a lack of social services and culturally competent providers.
- LGBT populations have the highest rates of tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use.
Health delivery systems can also introduce barriers to care in LGBTQ communities. For example, patients that identify and present as men can become pregnant, develop uterine fibroids, and need hysterectomies, but some electronic health record systems don’t allow for these indications to be added to a male patient’s chart.
A 2019 article in the New England Journal of Medicine brought attention to a representative case of a transgender man who presented in the ER with abdominal pain. Despite explaining that he was transgender and that he had had a positive pregnancy test at home, his situation was considered non-urgent.
By the time the healthcare team confirmed the advanced pregnancy, active labor, and umbilical cord prolapse, it was too late. The patient delivered a stillborn baby a few hours later. “[T]he nurse deployed implicit assumptions about who can be pregnant, attributed his high blood pressure to untreated chronic hypertension, and classified his case as nonurgent. A cisgender woman… would almost surely have been triaged and evaluated more urgently for pregnancy related problems.”
At the federal level, one goal of the federal Healthy People 2030 plan is to improve the health, safety, and well-being of LGBTQ people. Its objectives include reducing bullying, illicit drug use, and suicidal thoughts of LGBTQ students; increasing data collection; and reducing sexually transmitted infections.
The power of precision medicine can and should be harnessed to address health disparities and health issues that are unique or amplified within LGBTQ patients and populations.
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California Precision Medicine Advisory Council
The Data Integration Working Group will next meet Thursday, July 8 to discuss the challenges and benefits of incorporating social determinants of health measures into electronic medical records and other databases to inform health care delivery. Register to attend.
Capitol Collaborative On Race and Equity
CIAPM is participating in the Capitol Collaborative on Race and Equity (CCORE), a 14-month racial equity capacity-building program for government employees.
Asset Inventory Update
The California Precision Medicine Asset Inventory is CIAPM’s map-based visual database of researchers, businesses, non-profits, and other organizations involved in advancing precision medicine in California. The Asset Inventory is now being updated to better serve even more users by CIAPM’s Graduate Student Interns Jessica Lumian and Affad Shaikh. This update will incorporate the feedback of CIAPM stakeholders to improve the display and search functions of the assets. We hope that this platform will spur novel collaborations between groups and serve as a resource to learn about precision medicine efforts around the state. The current Asset Inventory remains available on the CIAPM website. |
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- Chief Communications and External Affairs Officer
- Health and Equity Program Manager
- Health and Equity Program Analyst
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June 23, 2021
A panelist discussion on how tech-forward approaches promote and perpetuate structural racism and bias, the risks of normalizing structural racism and bias in tech-forward SDOH approaches, and the steps that reduce community-level harm when tackling SDOH.
July 7, 2021
In this webinar, two UC faculty will discuss the basic and applied research on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth.
(Registration deadline July 2, 2021)
July 19-20, 2021
This brings together leading scientists, researchers, and scholars to share their experiences and research results on all aspects of oncology and biomarkers.
(Early Bird registration deadline June 18, 2021)
August 9-13, 2021
HIMSS Global Health Conference and Exhibition is an information and technology event that fosters education, networking, and collaboration.
(Advanced rates deadline July 12, 2021)
August 12-13, 2021
This conference brings together leading scientists, researchers, and scholars to share their experiences and research results on aspects of genomic medicine and precision medicine.
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External Funding Opportunities |
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Proposals should identify genetic, genomic, and molecular (epi)genetic variants that underlie phenotypes associated with addictive behaviors and/or vulnerability to distinct stages of the substance use disorder trajectory and comorbidities.
Applications due June 26, 2021
RADx-UP projects would expand the scope and reach of testing initiatives to reduce COVID-19 disparities and investigate interventions to increase access and uptake of COVID-19 testing.
Applications due July 8, 2021
RADx-UP projects would understand and improve factors that cause a disproportionate burden of the pandemic on certain populations, specifically by implementing programs that expand the scope and reach of COVID-19 testing interventions.
Applications due July 8, 2021
This funding opportunity seeks to generate flagship data sets and best practices for the collection and preparation of artificial intelligence/machine learning-ready data to address biomedical and behavioral research grand challenges.
Applications due July 20, 2021
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This funding opportunity supports health centers to systematically design, implement, and evaluate ways to optimize the use of virtual care into the future.
Applications due July 16, 2021
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