Pilot projects
A key aspect of our Center and each of the primary research projects is a specific desire to increase future lifespan equality. Overall US life-expectancy stalled prior to COVID19 (unlike in 27 European countries (1)), largely because of midlife mortality from cardiovascular diseases (2,3); e.g., age-adjusted midlife mortality rates for hypertensive diseases and obesity increased respectively by 79% and 114% from 1999-to-2017 (4). Worse is that people from areas with increased vulnerability related to socioeconomic status died more often and younger than people from less disadvantaged areas (5, 6). COVID19 exacerbated an already worsening situation, such that the U.S. Black-White life expectancy gap increased by ~ 40% in the first eight months of 2020 (7). Indeed, lifespan inequality (and precipitating cardiometabolic health disparities) appear to be increasing geographically (6), across income categories (8), and among racial/ethnic groups (5). Compelling evidence reported in the latest from PNAS indicates that the key to increasing lifespan equality is saving lives at ages below ~70 years (9). We propose to do just that by upscaling PAL2, an intervention strategy that places trained CHWs at the center of interpersonal patient engagement. Namely, by i) focusing on community engagement to increase reach in socially vulnerable areas, ii) assessing health risks at multiple levels across different domains, and iii) offering tailored preventive care and social services to interrupt early stages of pathogenesis. Figure shows projects and lifespan equality approach.
Project spotlight
ACHIEVE CESSATION
Work closely with a Wayne Mobile Health Unit clinical pharmacist over the phone to address personalized ways to help you quit smoking.
2023 Projects
| Awardee (Degree and Career Stage) | URM? (yes/no) | Collaborators/Co-Investigators | Pilot Title | Community Partnership? (yes/no) | Anticipated Start/End Dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brittany Stewart, RD, PharmD - Assistant Professor | No | Helen Berlie, BHS, PharmD (Mentor), Pia-Allison Roa, PharmD (Co-I) | ACHIEVE-Cessation: A Pharmacist-Led Smoking Cessation Program Utilizing Mobile Health Units (MHU) in Detroit | No | 10/1/2023 - 9/30/2025 |
| Zainab Albar, MBBS, MS - Predoctoral Research Associate | No | Salil V Deo, MD (Mentor) | Recalibrating risk scores for diabetes patients to include social determinants of health. | No | 10/1/2022-9/30/2025 |
| Clara Zundel, Ph.D. - Postdoctoral Research Fellow | No | Hilary Marusak, Ph.D (Mentor) | VETHEART – Veterans’ Exposure to Toxicants and Cardiovascular Health | No | 10/1/2023 - 9/30/2025 |
| Brian Haber, MD - Assistant Professor | No | Robert R Ehrman, MD, MS (Mentor) | The effect of social and environmental vulnerability on adverse post-discharge outcomes in patients admitted with acute heart failure | No | 10/1/2023-9/30/2024 |
| Katherine Knauft, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow | No | Samuele Zilioli, PhD (Mentor) | Air Pollution and CVD risk among Older Urban African Americans: Understanding how Volatile Organic Compounds impact Inflammation and Sleep | No | 10/1/2023-9/30/2025 |
| Robinson Salazar, PhD - Postdoctoral Research Associate | Yes | John Pastor Ansah, MD & Sanjay Rajagopalan, MD (co-Mentors) | Modeling the potential impact of Community Health Workers (CHWs) on cardiovascular disease (CVD) among African Americans in Cleveland with the active participation of Community Stakeholders | Yes | 10/1/2023-9/30/2025 |
| Qikui Zhu, PhD - Postdoctoral Scholar | No | Shuo Li, PhD (Mentor) | Role of health inequity variables on heart failure risk prediction from CT calcium score exams | No | 10/1/2023-9/30/2024 |
2022 Projects
| Awardee (Degree and Career Stage) | URM? (yes/no) | Collaborators/Co-Investigators | Pilot Title | Community Partnership? (yes/no) | Anticipated Start/End Dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erik Carter, MD | Yes | Douglas Ruden, PhD (Mentor), Rick Zimmerman, MD (Mentor) | Determining Interaction among DNA Methylation, Dietary Practices, and Blood Pressure in US African Immigrants and African Americans | No | 9/1/2022-8/30/2023 |
| Michael Petriello, PhD | Samuele Zilioli, PhD (Mentor) | PFAS and Cardiovascular Risk among African American Adults: A Prospective Investigation of Putative Biological Mechanisms | No | 9/1/2022-8/30/2023 | |
| Alberto J. Montero, MD | Nickolas Stabellini, MD, PhD (Co-I) | Racial disparities in major cardiovascular events (MACEs) and treatment adverse events in women with breast cancer | No | 9/1/2022-8/30/2023 | |
| Yassin Khalifa, PhD | Sadeer Al-Kindi, MD (Mentor) | Integrated Fine-Scale Socio-Environmental Phenotyping as Drivers of Cardiometabolic Risk | No | 9/1/2022-8/30/2023 | |
| Neiberg de Alcantara Lima, MD | Shaun Cardozo, MD (Mentor) | Accuracy of a Protocol for Measuring Seated Blood Pressure inside Patients' Cars (CAR BP) | No | 9/1/2022-8/30/2023 | |
| Ramy Abou Ghayda, MD, MPH | Evaluating Risk of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) in Men with Erectile Dysfunction through Cardiac CT for Calcium Scoring | No | 9/1/2022-8/30/2023 |
2021 Projects
| Awardee (Degree and Career Stage) | URM? (yes/no) | Collaborators/Co-Investigators | Pilot Title | Community Partnership? (yes/no) | Anticipated Start/End Dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qiong Zhang, Ph.D. - Postdoctoral Research Associate | No | Christine C. Johnson, MPH, Ph.D. (Mentor), Jessica Worley, MPH (Co-I) | From Environmental Inequities to Health Disparities: A Remote Sensing and GIScience Study of the Effects of SES and Greenness on Infant Gut Microbial Community Composition in the WHEALS Cohort | No | 3/1/2022 - 8/31/2023 |
| Ammar Hoori, PhD - Postdoctoral Scholar | No | David Wilson, (Mentor) | Role of health inequity variables on high-risk atherosclerosis identified from CT calcium score exam | No | 3/1/2022 - 2/28/2023 |
| Amar Basu, Ph.D. - Associate Professor | No | Joseph Miller MD, (Mentor) | Management of Orthostatic Hypotension (OH) using a wearable sensor | No | 3/1/2022 - 2/28/2024 |
| Youcheng Liu, MD, ScD, MPH, MS - Associate Professor | No | Pablo Ortiz, PhD, (Co-I), Robert Brook, MD (Mentor) | Urinary Transcriptomics Focusing on Hypertension (HTN)-Related Genes to Explain the Mechanisms by which Portable Air Cleaners (PACs) Mitigate Particulate Matter Air Pollution-Induced Blood Pressure (BP) Elevations in a Vulnerable African American Population in Detroit. | No | 3/1/2022 - 2/28/2023 |
| Pramod Khosla, PhD - Professor | No | Deepinder Kaur, PhD. (Co-I) | Dietary patterns as a driver for nutritional interventions to manage blood pressure in mildly hypertensive African Americans | No | 3/1/2022 - 2/28/2023 |
| Suresh K Balasubramanian, M.D. - Assistant Professor | No | Jaroslaw Maciejewski, M.D. (Mentor) | Prevalence and association of clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential and cardiovascular diseases among African-Americans vs. non-African-American cancer patients | No | 3/1/2022 - 12/31/2023 |
| Megan Hicks, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor | Yes | Rebeccah Sokol, Ph.D. (Co-I), Hilary Marusak, Ph.D. (Co-I) | Screening for social risks and health: The role of stress reduction | No | 3/1/2022 - 2/28/2024 |