Project Grant K99CA317730

The National Cancer Institute awarded The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York $140,364 on August 1, 2026, under the Cancer Research Manpower program (CFDA 93.398) to support the K99 phase of research developing cancer survivor hospitalization risk assessment through multimodal analysis of care manager–patient communications in managed long-term care settings.

The project, "The CHAMP Study: Cancer Survivor Hospitalization Risk Assessment Through Multimodal Patient-Care Manager Communications in Managed Long-Term Care," leverages telephone conversations and vocal cues from routine care manager contacts with cancer survivors enrolled in managed long-term care at VNS Health to identify early indicators of preventable hospitalizations and emergency department visits. Managed long-term care provides coordinated, community-based services to Medicaid beneficiaries with chronic conditions, including cancer survivors; care managers (nurses or social workers) conduct regular telephone monitoring. Current risk prediction models rely on structured electronic health record data and clinical notes but do not systematically capture the rich information—symptom details, functional decline, psychosocial concerns, and non-verbal vocal cues—documented during care manager–patient phone calls. The project seeks to integrate this untapped communication data into early risk detection models, addressing the clinical priority and value-based payment metric of reducing preventable hospitalizations and emergency department utilization.

The award covers the period from August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2028, with place of performance in New York, New York.