Current Project Publications

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Blood-based biomarkers offer a widely available, scalable, and noninvasive method to study neurodegeneration. However, the association between blood-based biomarkers of neurodegeneration and long-term risk of mortality, as well as dementia-specific mortality in a racially diverse cohort, remains understudied.

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CONCLUSIONS: Higher BMI was robustly associated with increased risk for most outcomes, particularly HF and AF, even after adjusting for traditional risk factors. Observed sex differences in the relative hazard of higher BMI categories and stroke, total CVD, and all-cause mortality suggest potential differences in underlying biological mechanisms.

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are associated with adverse health outcomes, but measurement of UPF intake in epidemiological studies remains challenging. Dietary assessments typically employ recall questionnaires, which may lead to measurement errors and misclassifications.

CONCLUSIONS: In this large cohort of patients with high-grade asymptomatic carotid stenosis, higher end-diastolic flow velocities correlated with greater TTP delays, supporting a definition of hemodynamically significant stenosis. Our findings have implications for the management of asymptomatic carotid stenosis, which will be tested in the CREST-H study.

CONCLUSIONS: Markers of left atrial cardiopathy, including presence of APCs and a high level of NT-proBNP, may be associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment and stroke with no suggestive history or documentation of AF.

CONCLUSION: Genetic risk and CMDs independently contributed to dementia-related outcomes, indicating their relevance in understanding dementia risk among AA adults.

CONCLUSIONS: Among Black and White Americans, low sRAGE was associated with increased risk of developing diabetes; associations attenuated and became non-significant with covariate adjustment. sRAGE may serve as a marker for diabetes risk, but clinical utility is unlikely given small non-significant associations, and no identified mediation of the association by sRAGE.

Polygenic risk score (PRS) methods are evolving, and the benefit of adding functional annotations to the variant weights has been especially promising. However, less attention has been given to how the linkage disequilibrium (LD) reference panel used affects the score performance.

CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with high-grade stenosis without recent symptoms, the addition of stenting led to a lower risk of a composite of perioperative stroke or death or ipsilateral stroke within 4 years than intensive medical management alone. Carotid endarterectomy did not lead to a significant benefit.

CONCLUSION: Lower-intensity smoking is associated with cardiovascular risk and the primary public health message for current smokers should be early cessation, rather than reducing the amount of smoking. Cessation provides substantial immediate risk reduction, although risk continues to decrease significantly for the following two decades.

This study aimed to determine if maternal educational attainment is associated with racial/ethnic disparities in gestational age (GA)-specific infant mortality rate (IMR).Cohort study using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) WONDER expanded linked birth and infant death records database, 2017 to 2019.

CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicated that living in racially segregated counties was associated with higher risk of hypertension, particularly for Black people. Higher neighborhood socioeconomic status may mitigate the negative effects of that aspect of residential segregation on hypertension development.

CONCLUSIONS: MVP prevalence aligned with population-based epidemiologic studies. PREVENT risk category may differentiate individuals at higher risk for MVP and for other VHD.

INTRODUCTION: The study aims to investigate associations between markers of atrial cardiopathy and cognitive function trajectories in adults without prior AF.

CONCLUSIONS: Higher BMI was robustly associated with increased risk for most outcomes, particularly HF and AF, even after adjusting for traditional risk factors. Observed sex differences in the relative hazard of higher BMI categories and stroke, total CVD, and all-cause mortality suggest potential differences in underlying biological mechanisms.

CONCLUSIONS: In this large cohort of patients with high-grade asymptomatic carotid stenosis, higher end-diastolic flow velocities correlated with greater TTP delays, supporting a definition of hemodynamically significant stenosis. Our findings have implications for the management of asymptomatic carotid stenosis, which will be tested in the CREST-H study.

CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with high-grade stenosis without recent symptoms, the addition of stenting led to a lower risk of a composite of perioperative stroke or death or ipsilateral stroke within 4 years than intensive medical management alone. Carotid endarterectomy did not lead to a significant benefit.

This study aimed to determine if maternal educational attainment is associated with racial/ethnic disparities in gestational age (GA)-specific infant mortality rate (IMR).Cohort study using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) WONDER expanded linked birth and infant death records database, 2017 to 2019.

CONCLUSIONS: MVP prevalence aligned with population-based epidemiologic studies. PREVENT risk category may differentiate individuals at higher risk for MVP and for other VHD.

CONCLUSIONS: Site-generated, core laboratory-interpreted ultrasound examination provides a reliable way of characterizing carotid plaque morphological features across studies performed at many CREST-2 sites. The initial cohort of patients randomized in CREST-2 had heterogeneity of plaque features despite causing high-grade stenosis.

CONCLUSION: The registry has facilitated assembly of a high‐performing team of stent operators for the CREST‐2 trial. With continued support of the many operators, we anticipate completing enrollment by the summer of 2024.

CONCLUSION: Results from C3FIT will help to determine which model of care yields better outcomes for patients and their caregivers, which will build scientific evidence about post-stroke recovery and has the potential to impact post-stroke care across the country.

CONCLUSIONS: Stent design influences periprocedural stroke or death in carotid stenting. Closed-cell stents are associated with a lower event rate when treating primary atherosclerosis, but not in the setting of restenosis.

The authors present a comprehensive review on the history and development of oncolytic herpes simplex viral therapies for malignant glioma with a focus on mechanisms of delivery in prior and ongoing clinical trials.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Preterm infants, critically ill infants with AKI, and infants with critical cardiac disease are at increased risk of CKD. We recommend (1) risk assessment at the time of discharge, (2) clinician and family education, and (3) kidney health assessments based on the degree of risk.

Effective health communication between healthcare providers and patients is a cornerstone of quality healthcare. It underpins trust, comprehension, and patient-informed care.

Achieving optimal cardiovascular health in rural populations can be challenging for several reasons including decreased access to care with limited availability of imaging modalities, specialist physicians, and other important health care team members. Therefore, innovative solutions are needed to optimize health care and address cardiovascular health disparities in rural areas.

Since the discovery that cGAS/STING recognizes endogenous DNA released from dying cancer cells and induces type I interferon and antitumor T cell responses, efforts to understand and therapeutically target the STING pathway in cancer have ensued.

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