Research Projects

Eastern Caribbean Health Outcomes Research Network (ECHORN) Cohort Study

Principal Investigator: Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS

Site Principal Investigators: Peter Adams, BSc, MBBS, DM; Cruz Nazario-Delgado, PhD; Maxine Nunez, DPH, MPH, MSN, CNE, RN; Rohan Maharaj, BSc, MBBS, MHSc, DM, FCCP

The Yale-TCC builds on the partnerships, infrastructure, and knowledge created by ECHORN and the ECHORN Cohort Study.

A Precision Medicine-based Approach for Early Risk Stratification and Prevention of Hypertension.

Project Leader: Erica Spatz, MD, MHS.

Co-investigators: Matthew Burg, PhD and Jack Bobak Mortazavi, PhD.

Develop new risk prediction phenotypes for nocturnal non-dipping & masked HTN. Uses ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (AMBP) & ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data to capture contextual factors.

Improving Risk Prediction for Type II Diabetes Mellitus (T2D) Using Behavioral, Metabolomic, and Microbial Biomarkers.

Project Leader: Tore Eid, M.D., Ph.D.

Co-investigators: Martin Kriegel, MD, PhD; Carol Oladele, PhD.

Collaborators: Roa Harb, MD, MPH; Raimund Herzog, MD, PhD.

Identify novel biomarker clusters & develop new risk prediction phenotypes for prediabetes & T2D. Combines plasma metabolomic, gut microbiome, dietary intake, & food environment data.

Pilot Project Program

The objective of the pilot project program (PPP) is to advance the understanding and facilitate the translation of precision medicine approaches to real-world settings. This is with the understanding that precision medicine is an approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for groups of individuals. Yale-TCC has funded two pilot projects focused on research targeting hypertension and diabetes prevention.

Demonstration Project Program

The Yale-TCC will support the implementation of two evidence-based interventions that address early detection and prevention of diabetes and hypertension. The first project will be implemented in 2018 and will address diabetes prevention. Only stakeholders who are members of the Yale-TCC Consortium can be involved in the demonstration project program.

Lifestyle Intervention with Metformin Escalation (LIME)

LIME is Yale-TCC’s first demonstration project. This is an evidence-based intervention that seeks to reduce the incidence of diabetes among the highest risk prediabetic individuals of Caribbean-descent by using lifestyle modification and escalation to Metformin. LIME will be implemented in four sites across Region II and the Eastern Caribbean: Internal Medicine Clinic at the University of Puerto Rico Hospital in Carolina, Puerto Rico (Dr. Elsie Cruz); University of the West Indies, Cave Hill and Barbados Ministry of Health Polyclinics, Barbados (Dr. Joseph Herbert, Dr. Paul-Charles, Dr. Sobers-Grannum); Southwest Regional Health Authority (SWRHA), La Romaine Health Center, Trinidad & Tobago (Dr. Kavita Dharamraj); U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Health (Ms. Lyna Fredericks).