ABIM Foundation Awards $320,000 to Projects Aimed at Building Trust and Improving Care
February 3, 2026
Eight grants will support internal medicine training to build trust and improve patient care
The ABIM Foundation has awarded $320,000 in grants to eight medical schools and health systems across the United States through the Building Trust: Advancing Health Equity grant program. The funded projects aim to promote trust and create a fairer health system by incorporating health equity into internal medicine education, training, and care delivery.
“It is important to better understand how trust is built when clinicians are equipped to listen, communicate, and respond to patients in the context of their communities, needs, and priorities,” said Furman S. McDonald, MD, MPH, President and CEO of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the ABIM Foundation.“These projects hypothesize that innovative, practical approaches to training the next generation of internal medicine physicians will lead to more equitable, patient-centered care and hopefully mitigate health disparities.”
Grants of $40,000 were awarded to projects led by residents and faculty in internal medicine education and training. Since 2021, the Building Trust: Advancing Health Equity grant program has supported 100 projects, investing more than $1.8 million to advance trust, professionalism, and health equity in internal medicine.
The funded projects are:
- Georgetown University will validate a trust-building framework and develop practical training tools – including short standardized patient videos – to help resident physicians build trust and communicate more effectively with patients.
- Hackensack University Medical Center will bring physicians, trainees, and care teams together to address patients’ social needs (e.g., housing and transportation) early in their cancer treatment journey, so that care plans better reflect patients’ needs.
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health will train physicians and researchers to partner with local community-based organizations to design health research that reflects the community’s priorities while also reducing health disparities.
- Henry Ford Hospital will improve care for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by training care teams how to use and teach proper inhaler techniques, helping patients breathe better and avoid complications.
- Northwell Health will use real-time data from glucose monitors to help care teams detect problems sooner and better manage patients’ diabetes through earlier, more personalized interventions, building on an existing Building Trust: Advancing Health Equity grant.
- Maimonides Medical Center will train clinicians and community members across multiple Brooklyn hospitals to lead community-driven efforts that address health inequities and improve local health outcomes, building on an existing Building Trust: Advancing Health Equity grant.
- University of Cincinnati will help clinicians and care teams better support patients with complex childhood medical conditions as they transition from pediatric to adult care, through the use of simulation-based training.
- University of Maryland will train all first-year internal medicine residents in how to recognize and actively work to address health inequities through hands-on community engagement, teamwork, and patient-centered care.
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About the ABIM Foundation
The ABIM Foundation advances medical professionalism to build trust and improve care. To learn more about the ABIM Foundation, visit www.abimfoundation.org and connect on LinkedIn.
