Allison E. Gaffey, PhD, has been awarded a Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NIHLBI).
The award, “Social Vulnerability, Sleep, and Early Hypertension Risk in Younger Adults,” will explore opportunities to intervene on high blood pressure among young women, and potential differences from men. According to the American Psychological Association, high levels of stress can interfere with sleep duration and contribute to the early-onset of disease. Some women experience an increase in blood pressure as early as their 30s. Gaffey will investigate behavioral and psychosocial factors that can reduce the risk for hypertension and help prevent cardiovascular disease in women.
Gaffey is an Instructor of Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine Section of Cardiovascular Medicine and a clinician investigator in cardiovascular medicine and women's health at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. Trained in clinical psychology, her research focuses on cardiovascular behavioral medicine or how nontraditional risk factors impact cardiac and vascular health, including stress, sleep, trauma, and the social determinants of health.
Gaffey is the recipient of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research Award for Early-Stage Investigators, the 2021 Research Recognition Award from the American Heart Association Council on Hypertension Trainee Advocacy Committee, and a Career Development Award from VISN 1 of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research & Development.
The grant discussed in this article was awarded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number 1K23HL168233-01.