The Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction Lab conducts research on a set of topics aimed at understanding and reducing the burden of hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the population. Research areas include trends in antihypertensive medication adherence and individual level factors associated with adherence, cost effectiveness of both medications (i.e., antihypertensive medication and statins) and interventions designed to lower CVD risk, the effect of bariatric surgery on hypertension resolution and antihypertensive medication use, and most recently the prediction of blood pressure using machine learning algorithms.

The lab has a focus on healthcare disparities as well, utilizing cohort data from the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study and the Jackson Heart Study to investigate topics such as the reasons for increased risk of CVD mortality among black adults compared with white adults, earlier development of hypertension among black adults, and ways to improve long term blood pressure control among black adults. He has also engaged in the collection of primary data on implicit and explicit racial bias among health care workers and participated in the development of an intervention to decrease perceived discrimination and improve patient satisfaction in primary care clinics in Alabama.

Director