Congratulations to Clayton Marcinak, MD, a fifth-year general surgery resident who earlier this year was awarded a grant from the UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research through their AHEAD (Advancing Health Equity and Diversity) Program. His project is examining neighborhood-related disparities in patient outcomes following surgery. The grant is providing Dr. Marcinak with $10,000 for one year, which he is using to interview Wisconsin patients in rural disadvantaged neighborhoods who receive surgery for the treatment of gastrointestinal cancer.
Compared to patients who live in neighborhoods that are more socioeconomically well-off, previous research suggests that patients who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods may have an increased risk of major complications and are at greater risk for being re-admitted to the hospital following surgery. Working under the mentorship of Syed Nabeel Zafar, MD, MPH, assistant professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology, and Noelle LoConte, MD, associate professor in the Department of Medicine, Dr. Marcinak wants to identify potentially modifiable factors that affect these outcomes. By identifying these factors, interventions can then be developed to improve surgical outcomes for patients who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Importantly, the study will also provide Dr. Marcinak with experience in qualitative methods in health disparities research, which will be vital to his future career as an academic surgeon. “This project is a critical first step in addressing neighborhood-level disparities in surgical outcomes for cancer patients. We are thrilled to be partnering with Greater Richland Area Cancer Elimination (GRACE), an organization that has been dedicated to supporting Wisconsinites with cancer for 20 years,” said Marcinak.