NYU Meyers Plays Key Role in NIH-Funded Palliative Care Research Consortium

NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing is playing a leading role in a new consortium focused on palliative care research led by the University of Colorado School of Medicine and funded by a five-year, $64 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

With the NIH funds, the Advancing the Science of Palliative Care Research Across the Lifespan (ASCENT) Consortium will provide resources, expertise, and coordination to advance innovative, high-quality research for those living with serious illness and those who care for them.

“The ASCENT Consortium will serve as a key conduit to expanding high-quality research across the United States, and by doing so accelerate the ability of palliative, hospice, and non-specialist care providers and health systems to better address the needs of seriously ill individuals and their families,” says Ab Brody, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Mathy Mezey Professor of Geriatric Nursing and associate director of the Hartford Institute of Geriatric Nursing (HIGN) at NYU Meyers, who will serve as a principal investigator of the ASCENT Consortium.

“We know from demographic studies that we are living longer with serious illnesses, and all Americans deserve to benefit from the latest scientific advances that can provide relief from physical and psychological symptoms and receive well-coordinated care that is aligned with their goals,” says Richard Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA). “NIA is pleased to see the launch of the Consortium for Palliative Care Research Across the Lifespan, and I know that my colleagues in the participating NIH institutes are equally committed to supporting the research resulting from this initiative so that we may improve the quality of life for those in need of palliative care.”

“While palliative care as a field has advanced significantly in the last few decades, there are still a lot of unmet needs. This consortium will serve as a springboard for filling gaps and offering resources to researchers who will ultimately improve the field,” says Jean Kutner, MD, MSPH, distinguished professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and chief academic officer of UCHealth, who will serve as a principal investigator of the ASCENT Consortium.

The consortium includes principal investigators from five institutions—NYU Meyers, the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania—as well as 40 key personnel from more than 20 institutions, representing the interdisciplinary approach that is integral to palliative care.

These scientists will help transform the field of palliative care research through generating new knowledge and methods, fostering the future scientific workforce, and implementing findings to benefit people living with serious illness.

Advancing palliative care research

The ASCENT Consortium has four aims:

• Aim 1: Developing a national scientific infrastructure and community needed to advance palliative care research.
• Aim 2: Creating new research knowledge and research methodologies.
• Aim 3: Fostering the career development and impact of the palliative care workforce through pilot awards, access to methodologic consultations, and mentorships.
• Aim 4: Disseminating palliative care research findings and facilitating implementation. This will include providing resource libraries, guidance documents, best practices, training, and toolkits.

As a principal investigator, Brody’s role is focused on leading the scientific consultation and research resources to advance palliative care research. This includes oversight of: 

• the three research methods cores (Design Core, Measurement Core, Population Based Data Core), which focus on generating new methods and knowledge for palliative care research
• the scientific consult program, which will provide expert advice to investigators seeking to develop or conduct serious illness research
• the Data Coordinating Center, which will support large palliative care trials, and the deidentified data repositories that other researchers can then use to perform secondary analyses of palliative care research

Several administrative functions and key personnel will also be based at NYU, including ASCENT Scientific Director Susan Lysaght Hurley, PhD, RN, who will focus on scientific integration across the cores and building partnerships with organizations that serve seriously ill individuals and their families across the nation.

An interdisciplinary approach

The World Health Organization estimates nearly 57 million people per year facing life-threatening illness receive palliative care, which takes into consideration pain, suffering, and issues beyond physical symptoms.

Palliative care provides an extra layer of support for those with serious illness, caregivers, and families, and the vast majority of individuals are palliated by nurses, the largest healthcare workforce in the United States, as part of an interdisciplinary team.

 “To advance care for seriously ill individuals and their families, we need to ensure all disciplines providing palliative care are well represented in conducting research,” Brody says. “With NYU Meyers as a trailblazing institution in palliative nursing science, we are well-situated through the consortium to lead a stellar nationwide team in generating cutting-edge research methods and developing interdisciplinary researchers that will improve palliative care delivery. Ultimately, this will benefit the millions of seriously ill individuals and their families located in every corner of the United States.”

The award (1U54AG093230-01) is being administered by the National Institute on Aging with funding and collaboration from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Nursing Research, and National Cancer Institute.