Clinical Pharmacy Seminar: Thomas Cascino, MD, MS

Department: Clinical Pharmacy

McKesson Foundation Health Equity Speaker: Thomas Cascino, MD, MS

Date: Monday, April 14, 2025

Title: Understanding and Addressing Disparities in Advanced Heart Failure

Co-hosted by: Clinical Pharmacy and the Dedicated Programs & Assessments Office

Speaker
Thomas Cascino, MD, MS, Clinical Lecturer, University of Michigan Health

Biography
Dr. Thomas Cascino is a heart failure and transplant cardiologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Michigan. He is a health services researcher with a primary passion for improving equitable access to evidence-based care for patients with heart failure. His current work is focused on the identification of barriers to access to healthcare, understanding disparities in the use of advanced therapies, including LVAD and transplant for heart failure patients, identification of the optimal timing of LVAD, understanding the impact of policy changes on access to heart transplant and LVAD, and utilization of implementation science methodology to improve the delivery of therapies that improve outcomes that matter to our patients.

McKesson Foundation Health Equity Speaker Series
For decades, the existence of disparities in health and healthcare have been prevalent, particularly in underserved or minority communities, as a result of a variety of factors such as birthplace, housing, education, race, age, sexual identity and other nonmedical factors. These factors are commonly referred to as the social determinants of health (SDOH). As a result of SDOH, quality healthcare and treatment can be difficult to access for many who don’t fall into the dominant group and must confront barriers to receive treatment. These barriers have manifested in the form of government policies, social norms, racism, politics and others related to the social determinants of health. (CDC, 2022)

Examples of barriers to adequate healthcare treatment include poverty, lack of access to quality education or positive social activities, and unhealthy environmental factors. These factors must be addressed in order to achieve positive health outcomes and equity in access to healthcare and treatment for all. To help illuminate and educate around issues involving social determinants of health, the College of Pharmacy and the McKesson Foundation have teamed up to launch the McKesson Foundation Health Equity Speaker Series.

For the past two years the College of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan in partnership with the McKesson Foundation has hosted a speaker series based on the topic of health equity. The McKesson Foundation is dedicated to advancing health outcomes for all with the mission to remove barriers to quality healthcare across the country, especially for vulnerable and underserved communities. The College of Pharmacy also has a longstanding history of fighting to address disparities in healthcare and is a leader in the fight for equitable healthcare for all individuals. This alignment in values and mission of both organizations led to the provision of a grant to the College of Pharmacy in 2022 to launch what we now call the McKesson Foundation Health Equity Speaker Series, with the goal of educating the UM community and inspiring those around us to find solutions that address inequities in healthcare and beyond.

About our Funder, the McKesson Foundation
The McKesson Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to improving health outcomes for vulnerable and underserved populations. It focuses on initiatives that address healthcare disparities, promote patient-centered care, and support cancer care and survivorship. Through grants, partnerships, and employee-driven giving programs, the foundation aims to foster innovative solutions that enhance community health and well-being.