UNCOVER-PC: Helping people with advanced cancer and their families get better palliative care
Official title: UNCOVER-PC: Uniting Novel Concepts of Value to Enhance Reform in Palliative Care
Funded at Emory University · NIH-11448339 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A project at Emory aims to find the best ways to give palliative care early to people with advanced cancer and to understand how it helps patients and their caregivers.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R37 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Emory University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Atlanta, United States) |
| Project start | August 13, 2026 |
| Project end | July 31, 2031 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $682,730 |
| NIH project number | 1R37CA307515-01A1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11448339 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Patients with advanced cancer who are candidates for outpatient specialty palliative care, and their family caregivers.
✕Less likely to help
Patients who do not experience positive changes from palliative care or who have very limited access to care may see little or no benefit.
What this research studies
This grant will look at how outpatient specialty palliative care can be delivered most effectively after an advanced cancer diagnosis. It uses a patient-centered value framework to compare different care modalities and timing, and it also considers how family members’ quality of life is affected. The study seeks to identify which approaches work best for different patients and settings, so guidelines and insurance designs can encourage timely access to care. It will gather real-world data to inform value-based decisions that could reduce suffering and improve end-of-life outcomes. The work is led by Emory University’s Xin Hu and partners in Atlanta, spanning several years of analysis and collaboration with clinicians and patients.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the project could guide better timing and delivery of palliative care, improving QoL for patients and reducing caregiver burden.
How similar studies have gone: Prior trials have shown QoL and EOL benefits from early palliative care, but real-world delivery varies and this study seeks to optimize it.
Where this research is happening
-
Emory University
Atlanta, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Hu, Xin — Emory University
- Study coordinator: Hu, Xin
Related research
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.