Cal Poly gets $5.6 million to study heart health of pregnant people, babies
The Cal Poly Center for Health Research recently received a $5.6 million grant — its largest ever — to study the cardiovascular health of pregnant people and babies in low-resource communities, the university said.
The grant is part of the federal National Institutes of Health’s Early Intervention to Promote Cardiovascular Health of Mothers and Infants (NIH ENRICH) program, a multi-phase, seven-year project, according to a Cal Poly news release.
Cal Poly’s portion of the study involves 550 participants in California and Rhode Island, 275 in each state, enrolled in home health visit services, according to the release.
The National Institutes of Health ENRICH program aims to promote health heart and bridge health disparities among low-income mothers and infants living in low-resource communities, the release said. The grant awarded to Cal Poly is one of seven awarded through the program.
More than half of the participants in the Cal Poly study — about 60% — will be Hispanic women living in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Fresno counties, the release said.
“It’s really trying to promote long-term heart health in families who have been historically minoritized, underrepresented and low-resourced in our region,” Suzanne Phelan, director and principal investigator of the Cal Poly Center for Health Research, said in the release.
The study will involve developing, implementing and evaluating a new heart program program targeted toward pregnant people and children, according to the release.
The program’s goal is to reduce heart disease risk factors such as obesity, sedentary lifestyles, smoking, stress and poor diet and sleep habits, the release said.
The Cal Poly program will partner with health advocates to address health and social services needs through home visits.
Phelan said about 35 Cal Poly students will be involved in the seven-year project — roughly five students per year — and will track its impact.
The students and faculty members participating in the grand program study statistics and world languages and culture, the release said.
They will collaborate with counterparts at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and other health centers and home visiting programs, the release said.
“The population that we’re working with tends to be younger moms, and we’re trying to promote their health years before they’d likely to get cardiovascular disease,” Phelan said in the release. “Reduced weight and reduced waist circumference lower the disease risk for postpartum moms. Intervention helps babies during pregnancy to try to prevent later disease development in them, as well.”
The Cal Poly study is currently is in a two-year, $1.3 million planning phase, the release said.
NIH officials will evaluate study progress before approving the $4.3 million for the next phase of the study — five years to evaluate the effectiveness of intervention on women and children’s heart health, the release said.
The heart health program will likely include an app to supplement the home visits, the release said. Participants who don’t have a cell phone will be provided one for free.
The team plans to implement strategies to promote healthy eating and activities for obesity prevention and other heart healthy behaviors.
Health goals such as measurable weight loss and other results are targeted for the first year to 18 months of the study, the release said.
