Multidisciplinary Hispanic Health Study Receives $21 Million NIH Grant

Multidisciplinary Hispanic Health Study Receives $21 Million NIH Grant

A multidisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Miami studying factors associated with health outcomes and disease risk in the Hispanic community has received a $21 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The high-impact grant will extend the national Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL), originally launched in 2008, through 2033. As one of only four U.S. sites selected for the study, the University of Miami has built a collaborative and multidisciplinary research team that has uncovered many new insights into cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, risk behavior and other health issues affecting South Florida's diverse Hispanic community.

“The College of Arts and Sciences is thrilled that the National Institutes of Health has renewed funding for this landmark study, which has been housed in the Department of Psychology for 18 years,” said Leonidas Bachas, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "This study is critical to a deeper understanding of chronic disease in Hispanic and Latino populations. I am confident that under the able leadership of Professor Frank Penedo and his colleagues, Professors Maria Llabre and Christina Cordero in the Department of Psychology, as well as the staff of the Miller School of Medicine, it will continue to have a positive impact." communities across the United States.”

Insights from ongoing research—including dozens of related studies building on the cohort—inform clinical care and prevention strategies.”

Frank J. Penedo, Ph.D., principal investigator of the HCHS/SOL study

Dr. Penedo is associate director of population sciences at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and a professor in the departments of psychology and medicine.

In addition to Dr. Penedo's fourth phase of the study includes Maria Llabre Ph.D., professor of psychology and education, as co-principal investigator; Claudia Martinez, MD, associate professor of clinical medicine in the cardiovascular division; and Christina Cordero, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology and HCHS/SOL project leader.

“I am incredibly proud to be part of the team leading this study at the University of Miami,” said Dr. Cordero. "This grant will allow us to expand on the extensive data and discoveries collected since the cohort's inception. Our work continues to provide new insights into how biological, genetic/multiomic, behavioral, environmental and social factors influence health and disease." various Hispanic/Latino American groups in the USA”

Promoting precision prevention and medicine for Hispanics

HCHS/SOL is the largest longitudinal epidemiological study among Hispanics/Latinos in the United States, with 4,000 participants in each of four sites: Miami, Chicago, San Diego, and the Bronx in New York City. Each site will receive $21 million in the fourth phase of the grant, including support from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and six other contributing NIH institutes.

Study participants will have a diverse Hispanic background, including Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Central and South American ancestry, and will participate in in-depth clinical examinations, blood and imaging tests, and nutritional, behavioral, and psychosocial assessments.

“This groundbreaking study expands our understanding of the unique risk factors of different Hispanics and informs precision prevention and medical care for cardiovascular disease as well as many other diseases such as diabetes and cancer,” said Dr. Penedo. "Our comprehensive clinical examinations and assessments capture important information, including genetic data, social determinants of health, social processes and emotional well-being. This approach allows us to more accurately identify risk determinants and modifiable risk factors to improve health outcomes in this population." .”

If serious health problems are identified, participants will be referred to their primary care physicians or community-based organizations that serve uninsured individuals.

They have already found that the risk of cardiovascular disease is similar across all Hispanic groups, and 71 percent of women and 80 percent of men have at least one cardiovascular disease risk factor. Conversely, they found significant differences in risk factors across different Hispanic populations, such as higher rates of diabetes among participants with Mexican and Central and South American backgrounds. It is striking that in the entire cohort over 40 percent of diabetics were not aware of their disease, added Dr. Penedo added, and several barriers impacted cancer screening behaviors that generally did not meet recommended prevention guidelines.

“This shows the importance of targeted strategies to raise awareness and hopefully prevent the development of diabetes, cancer and other metabolic diseases,” he said.

The study was originally designed and led by Neil Schneiderman, Ph.D., an expert in addressing health disparities and a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, who died in 2023. Since the study began, university researchers have leveraged the wealth of data from the first three phases of HCHS/SOL to conduct 28 additional studies focusing on cancer, vascular dementia, obstructive sleep apnea, COVID-19 and other topics. About 4 percent of participants were diagnosed with cancer at the start of the cohort.

“In general, Hispanics have lower rates of common cancers but higher rates of advanced disease,” he said. “There are also cultural issues, such as a sense of fatalism, associated with poor adherence to colorectal cancer screening guidelines.”

Continuing this NIH grant will enable researchers to collect additional longitudinal data and conduct more sophisticated modeling of risk factors, disease progression, and clinical outcomes, with the possibility of incorporating new novel analytical tools such as artificial intelligence and machine learning methods to predict disease onset.

New research opportunities

The research group expects about 80 percent of the 4,000 Miami-Dade participants in previous HCHS/SOL study phases to attend the fourth visit. To date, over 500 papers have been published from this cohort, and with the extension of the study there will be numerous opportunities to examine long-term associations between multilevel disease risk and protective factors in the Hispanic community.

In addition, the team encourages university students, trainees and teachers to take advantage of the wealth of information in the study's open access database and to take advantage of the research opportunities the data offers.

Looking back on the 18 years of the HCHS/SOL study, Dr. Cordero added, “Our success in achieving the highest retention rates across the four sites is a testament to the exceptional commitment of our research staff and the trust of our participants.” We are committed to having a lasting and meaningful impact on the health of Hispanic/Latino communities.”

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