NYU Langone’s Division of Health and Behavior features a Cardiovascular Health and Diabetes Research Track, a part of the Section for Health Equity.

We use data from community health research and needs assessments, peer-reviewed literature, and ongoing discussions with national and local community leaders to address cardiovascular and diabetes disparities in diverse racial and ethnic minority and immigrant communities. The high disease burden and the lack of effective, culturally relevant health interventions across minority populations, including Black, Latinx, and Asian communities, highlight the need for multilevel strategies to improve health.

Our work in this track, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, demonstrates substantial experience with large-scale recruitment and the implementation and evaluation of culturally adapted community health worker interventions. These interventions are designed to increase prevention and improve management of diabetes and cardiovascular health, improve access to culturally relevant healthcare, and enhance community capacity to participate in health promotion and prevention efforts.

Integrating Community Health Workers in Safety-Net Settings for Diabetes Prevention

As part of the Community Health Outreach to Reduce Diabetes (CHORD) Project, researchers are assessing the integration of community health workers into the primary care safety-net setting for diabetes prevention education and support in New York City. Learn more about this study being conducted in partnership with the NYU-CUNY Prevention Research Center.

Diabetes Research, Education, and Action for Minorities Initiative

The goal of the Diabetes Research, Education, and Action for Minorities (DREAM) Initiative is to implement and evaluate an integrated electronic health record and community health worker intervention program in a network of community-based primary care practices to prevent and manage type 2 diabetes in the South Asian community.

Study aims are to promote weight loss of 5 percent or more in patients at risk (body mass index ≥23 kg/m2) of diabetes, reduce HbA1c among patients with uncontrolled diabetes, increase use of community and social services, and improve diabetes-related self-efficacy.

Researchers are implementing an electronic health record–based registry system to identify patients with or at risk for uncontrolled diabetes. The system enables feedback between providers and community health workers through the sharing of patient progress reports and health coaching and referral materials.

Community health workers are also delivering linguistically and culturally tailored group sessions on preventing or self-managing diabetes and using a mobile application referral program to link patients to culturally relevant community-level resources.

This study is funded the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

For more information, please contact Nadia S. Islam, PhD, principal investigator, at nadia.islam@nyulangone.org, or Shinu Mammen, MPH, program coordinator at shinu.mammen@nyulangone.org.

Scaling Community–Clinical Linkage Models to Address Diabetes and Hypertension Disparities in the Southeastern United States

Researchers are replicating the DREAM Initiative with partners at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, with the goal of improving hypertension and diabetes management for the growing community of South Asians living in the Southeastern United States. We are working with researchers from the NYU Center for the Study of Asian American Health to complete this project.

We aim to provide research training, technical assistance, and capacity-building to community and clinical sites for the implementation of a culturally tailored, evidenced-based community healthcare worker program for addressing comorbid hypertension and diabetes management. We are then testing the effectiveness of the intervention compared with usual care among people with diabetes and uncontrolled hypertension.

This research is funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

Community Service Plan Faith-Based Health Promotion

Researchers within the Cardiovascular Health and Diabetes Research Track are committed to a Community Service Plan that addresses health disparities and encourages health promotion and disease prevention in the New York City area, including through faith-based organizations. These organizations can play an important role in the wellbeing of immigrant and racial and ethnic minority populations.

Assessment of Policies Through Prediction of Long-Term Effects on Cardiovascular Disease Using Simulation

Using agent-based modeling, this research is comparing the effects of food policies on cardiovascular disease‒related outcomes and healthcare costs for adults in different neighborhoods of New York City. Learn more about Assessment of Policies through Prediction of Long-term Effects on Cardiovascular Disease Using Simulation (APPLE CDS).