Kevin Heffernan (Ex Sci) PI
Intramural Sponsored Project – 2020-2021 Lerner Center Faculty Fellowship Grant, $25,000, 7/1/20-6/30/22.
The current COVID-19 pandemic has shined a bright light on the racial divide in health in the U.S. with African Americans bearing a disproportionate burden of coronavirus-related morbidity and mortality. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors are emerging as prominent risk factors for coronavirus and its related sequela. African Americans have higher CVD risk factor burden and as such are experiencing higher mortality rates from coronavirus. Moreover, the coronavirus may cause acute cardiac damage even in those without a history of CVD. Whether this acute damage has chronic effects on cardiovascular health in survivors of coronavirus remains unknown. If coronavirus does indeed cause permanent cardiac damage, we may be seeing a secondary pandemic of heart attack and stroke in years to come, a pandemic that will likely disproportionally affect African Americans. This study proposes to develop a new metric of CVD risk (related to artery age) that can be easily assessed in community-based (non-clinic) settings without need for advanced equipment or technical expertise and will have equitable predictive capacity across race. Once developed, we will use this metric in a feasibility study assessing the impact of COVID-19 on CVD risk (accelerated artery aging) in our broader CNY community, with an emphasis on assessing racial variation. This research study will be linked to a Healthy Monday campaign that will promote the importance of cardiovascular health for all, will offer information to our community on the possible cardiovascular health implications of coronavirus and how individuals can estimate their artery age to obtain insight into their own cardiovascular health.