2026 Building Trust: Advancing Health Equity Grant Program
In January 2026, the ABIM Foundation awarded $320,000, split among eight projects at medical schools and training programs across the US.
Learn more about the selected projects:
- Georgetown University will develop and validate a practical trust-building framework to enhance communication between physicians and Black patients. Designed for internal medicine residents and medical students, the framework will focus on oberservable, performance-based skills that educators can teach and assess. The project team will also develop four video-recorded standardized patient cases that demonstrate effective communication in real clinical scenarios. Together, the framework and videos will serve as both a training curriculum and an assessment tool to help learners build and replicate trust-centered communication practices.
- Hackensack University Medical Center will launch a Social Determinants of Health Tumor Board to address patients’ needs early in the cancer treatment planning process. Residents, fellows and faculty will co-lead sessions designed to bring care teams together to better understand patients’ situations and develop care plans that address each patient’s unique needs. The project aims to help learners grow more confident in addressing social risks while strengthening teamwork, empathy, and coordination across the health professions.
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health will develop a curriculum that trains internal medicine trainees and early career investigators to partner with community-based organizations in under-resourced communities. Participants will learn how to design and conductresearch that is relevant to community’s needs, meaningfully engages community members, and helps reduce health disparities. The project will partner with up to four large internal medicine departments in Boston and will draw on Harvard’s Community Ambassador Initiative to support recruitment and long-term collaboration, equipping trainees with skills they can apply and replicate elsewhere.
- Henry Ford Hospital will improve care for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by focusing on proper inhaler use – an area where nearly two-thirds of patients make errors. Using a community-based model, the project will (1) train physicians, trainees, and nurses touse a monitoring device that provides real-time feedback on inhaler technique, and (2) teach patients how to use inhalers correctly. Home health nurses will provide education to patients during home visits, collect data, and assess outcomes to help patients breathe better and avoid complications.
- Northwell Health will build on an existing Building Trust: Advancing Health Equity grant by using real-time data from Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) to improve diabetes care. During this second phase, a dedicated Remote Patient Data Monitoring Coordinator will receive CGM data, identify concerning trends, and communicate findings to the clinical team. This approach will support earlier, more personalized interventions – such as adjustments to diet, exercise, and medications – to improve disease management and glycemic control.
- Maimonides Medical Center will expand and evaluate a community-engaged leadership training program developed through a previous Building Trust: Advancing Health Equity grant. While the initial project focused on one health system with three hospitals, the expanded program will involve three additional hospitals and trainees from internal medicine, pediatrics and emergency medicine, medical students, and hospital staff at four safety net institutions in Brooklyn. Sixty fellows will be trained in pragmatic community organizing and leadership skills annually. Community-based organizations will codesign training, and participants will work in interprofessional teams to design health equity campaigns aligned with both community and institutional priorities.
- University of Cincinnati will implement educational workshops and simulation-based training to improve care for adults with complex childhood-onset conditions as they transition from pediatric to adult care. The project will standardize transition processes for hospitalized patients and increase clinicians’ confidence and competence in managing complex care needs. Led in collaboration with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the initiative aims to strengthen patient and family trust during a critical period of care.
- University of Maryland will train all first-year internal medicine residents to recognize, understand and actively work to eliminate health disparities, enhance patient-centered communication, and engage in advocacy through a comprehensive health equity curriculum. Residents will learn about community health needs, health literacy, social and structural determinants of health, and team-based care and will apply these concepts through hands-on community engagement. Residents will work with family medicine residents, learners from nursing, physical therapy, pharmacy and social work schools, partners from community-based organizations and public health officials from the Baltimore City Department of Food Policy and Planning.
