Honoring Community. Investing in Equity.
The Association of Black Gastroenterologists and Hepatologists (ABGH) is proud to establish the James Casey Scholarship for Health Equity, a travel award created to support emerging and early-career clinicians, trainees, researchers, and advocates whose work advances equity in digestive and liver health.
Named in honor of James Casey – a gifted musician and colorectal cancer advocate who used his voice, both in music and in community, to bring awareness to prevention, family health history, and the disproportionate impact of colorectal cancer in Black communities. James understood how prevention can move through culture, story, and sound – drawing on the expression of his art to engage communities in deeper awareness of their own health. His advocacy aligned with the heart of ABGH’s commitment to confronting disparities in gastrointestinal and liver health and ensuring that the communities most impacted are meaningfully represented in research, care, or visibility.
Purpose
The James Casey Scholarship provides financial support for individuals presenting health equity-focused research, posters, or scholarly work at national and specialty conferences. The scholarship is designed to reduce financial barriers to participation while elevating work that addresses inequities in gastrointestinal and hepatologic care.
Scholarship awards may support:
- Conference registration
- Airfare and lodging
- Ground transportation and related travel costs
Recipients will also be recognized as James Casey Scholars through ABGH platforms and programming. ABGH anticipates awarding one or more annual scholarships to support trainees, fellows, early-career physicians, researchers, and advocates presenting qualifying work at approved professional meetings.
Preference will be given to applicants whose work centers:
- Racial and ethnic disparities in GI and liver health
- Community-engaged or culturally responsive research
- Access to care, prevention, and early detection
- Structural barriers, systems change, and health justice
- Patient-centered innovation that improves outcomes in historically underserved communities
Too often, the people and perspectives closest to health inequities are underrepresented in the spaces where research is presented, networks are built, and future leaders are shaped.
The James Casey Scholarship is a direct investment in changing that reality, helping ensure that important work rooted in equity, community, and lived experience is seen, supported, and elevated.
Support the Scholarship
ABGH invites partners, donors, and sponsors to invest in the James Casey Scholarship for Health Equity as part of a broader commitment to community impact, health equity, and the next generation of changemakers.
Together, we can honor James Casey’s legacy by making sure equity-centered voices and ideas are not only present—but funded, visible, and impossible to ignore.
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