OUR RESEARCH
CHURCH TRIAL
The CHURCH trial is community-based participatory research that aims to increase guidelines on concordant colorectal cancer (CRC) screening uptake and reduce dietary and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors linked to CRC among African Americans (AA). AA communities have been disproportionately impacted and are more likely to contract and die from CRC than any other racial group in the U.S. The main reasons for these differences are a low screening rate resulting from factors such as distrust in the healthcare system, lack of access, and awareness of the services. While an increase in screening will be the most effective way to reduce CRC, a reduction in CVD can also be effective seeing that CVD can increase the risk of CRC.
DREAM STUDY
The DREAM study is a randomized controlled trial aimed at promoting sleep health equity to reduce ethnic disparities in cardiometabolic diseases among the Hispanic/Latinx community of NYC. A multidimensional sleep health intervention will be conducted to improve multiple aspects of sleep health, focusing primarily on promoting sufficient sleep duration, regular sleep schedules, and efficient, good quality sleep, to enhance cardiometabolic health and reduce the burden of multiple chronic diseases in NYC Hispanic/Latinx adults. The Hispanic/Latinx community represents one third of the NYC population and comprises ~80% of the Washington Heights/Inwood community surrounding Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Hispanics/Latinx have some of the highest prevalence rates for obesity and type 2 diabetes, and in New York City, one of the highest hypertension burdens. Sleep health inequities contribute to the disproportionate cardiometabolic disease burden in Hispanic/Latinx communities. Therefore, improving multiple domains of cardiometabolic health through a contextual sleep intervention can have far-reaching effects for reducing the burden of multiple morbidities and promoting healthy longevity.
IMPACT TRIAL
IMPACT focuses on patients who have breast cancer and cardiovascular disease. The IMPACT project goal is to address and develop equitable and scalable interventions that reduce disparities in patients with multiple chronic diseases through improved adherence to medications and consequently, improved medication management. Breast cancer and cardiovascular disease both have significant disparities in treatment and outcomes. A growing number of breast cancer survivors are comorbid with cardiovascular disease. As cardiovascular disease overtakes breast cancer as the leading cause of death among breast cancer survivors, there is a high level of urgency in this critical area of research. Medical nonadherence contributes to negative health outcomes and risk for adverse health events. Disparities in medical adherence can be caused by a variety of factors such as access, capability, opportunity, and motivation. However, decades of research relating to current medical adherence interventions have been costly and difficult to scale.