Improving awareness of women with hypertension: ROAR (Rural, Obese, At Risk)

More than 1 in 3 women are living with heart disease and many are unaware of the risks. Hypertension is a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and ~47% of adults in the US have hypertension. In ~85% of cases, the cause of hypertension is unknown and only ~50% of patients taking medication achieve blood pressure (BP) control to recommended levels. A critical barrier to limiting premature death from CVD is lack of awareness surrounding the risks of CVD. Our location in the Southeast of the US will contribute to our impact. The prevalence of hypertension and obesity are high in GA, MS, and SC. The prevalence of hypertension and associated risk is not equal among all populations. Indeed, the prevalence of hypertension in Black people in the US is among the highest in the world. Our overall goal is to transform academic and community understanding of sex as a biological variable (SABV) in the consideration of hypertension. We will accomplish this through the creation and dissemination of innovative educational content, the development of strategic partnerships, and enhanced community engagement in the Southeast of the US. This SCORE is designed to provide novel insight into the mechanisms controlling BP in females vs. males, develop a comprehensive educational platform on SABV in CVD extending from grade school to medical school, and increase awareness and education of CVD and the risks of uncontrolled hypertension in women across the health span through community outreach. This SCORE has 4 objectives. Objective 1 is to conduct cutting edge research to advance our understanding of sex-specific mechanisms that control BP to limit cardiovascular risk. Objective 2 is to develop a culturally diverse research pipeline of biomedical scientists trained in the field of SABV in CVD. Objective 3 is to establish a community outreach pipeline of trained scientists to increase awareness of SABV and promote optimal cardiovascular healthcare for men and women. Objective 4 is to empower the community to self-monitor and work to identify barriers to improving access to healthcare. The outcomes of our proposed SCORE include not only advances in science and training of the next generation of leaders in the study of the impact of biological sex on the development and progression of CVD, but also the development of a range of educational content that will be fully available to the Consortium. This will include 1) the development educational materials by medical illustrators for students/trainees at all stages, the community, and physicians, 2) establishing a SABV Mentoring Academy, 3) creating a SABV curriculum and workshop for students, fellows, and junior investigators. The impact of our work will be to increase recognition and awareness of the risks of CVD and hypertension to women across their health span and best practices for SAVB experimental design. Our comprehensive community outreach plan will also be critical to reach a highly at-risk population in the Southeast of the US to increase routine cardiovascular health monitoring and decrease the overall CVD burden on both the population and the healthcare system.