Grant Helps Cancer Researcher Address Language Barriers in Clinical Trials

How can language-inclusive education reshape the future of pediatric cancer research?

Hyundai Hope on Wheels, a nonprofit organization dedicated to pediatric cancer research, awarded Melanie Stall, MD, a $300,000 Young Investigator Award in their 2025 grant cycle. Dr. Stall, a pediatric hematologist-oncologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, will use this grant to develop educational tools that aim to make pediatric cancer clinical trials more accessible for families who speak languages other than English (LOE).

Building bridges through language equity

Dr. Stall’s passion for providing language equity in clinical trial research began early in her career.

“In the first few months of my hematology oncology fellowship program, I cared for a patient whose family spoke Vietnamese,” Dr. Stall recalls. “The mom knew a little English, but not enough to get by. One day, she broke down in tears of frustration. She could tell what the interpreter was saying wasn’t very accurate, and she just felt a lack of support — a lack of resources.”

This experience led Dr. Stall to begin conversations about health and language equity with families who speak other languages. She designed a research project that interviewed these families about their experiences with care, communication and support from medical teams.

Most families Dr. Stall interviewed expressed the desire for educational videos produced in their languages. Through videos, Dr. Stall says, parents and caregivers can gain background knowledge on their child’s health condition before going into conversations with doctors.

These experiences laid the groundwork for Dr. Stall’s current research focused on intervention development. Through the grant, Dr. Stall plans to pilot educational videos in LOE, particularly centered on participation in pediatric cancer clinical trials and information on what trials entail.

Through clinical trials, survival rates for pediatric cancer patients have dramatically increased over the past several decades. However, Dr. Stall explains that children of families who speak other languages are underrepresented in clinical trials.

By expanding production of these types of videos, Dr. Stall aims to make sure families have access to cutting-edge treatments, regardless of what language they speak. “My hope is that this project will be able to give introductory knowledge about clinical trials and help ease any concerns families may have to open the door for a better conversation with the clinicians,” Dr. Stall says.

Expanding access to cancer research

Dr. Stall explains that while families who speak Spanish have some resources, families who speak other languages often have very few tools to aid communication with their child’s care team. 

While Dr. Stall’s piloted videos will provide additional resources for families who speak Spanish, she also hopes to go further than that.

“The Hyundai Hope on Wheels Grant is taking everything to the next step,” Dr. Stall says. The grant, she explains, will extend her research to two additional sites and provide for resources in another language other than Spanish and English, while receiving more feedback from impacted families.

While the additional language is not yet chosen, it will be based on patient and family demand. Dr. Stall hopes to continue adding languages to the program.

Although these videos may not replace real-time conversations with a child’s care team, they give families ongoing support and a clearer understanding of their child’s long-term care needs. This is especially valuable because of the emotional toll families are already experiencing.

“When we’re explaining treatments or diagnoses to families, they’re going through an unthinkable tragedy with their child,” Dr. Stall says. “Any family, even one who speaks English, has a hard time recalling everything said by a care team in those moments.”

Through Dr. Stall’s project, families can reference educational materials whenever they need to deepen their understanding of what it means to be on a clinical trial. In the future, she hopes to expand the video collection, adding topics related to other aspects of cancer care and treatment.

By breaking down language barriers, Dr. Stall’s work helps ensure that more families can participate in and benefit from the future of pediatric cancer research.