The Intersection of Cardiovascular Health and Maternal Health: Portfolio Analysis of Federal Grant Funding 2016-2021.

Background: The United States has high and increasing rates of maternal morbidity and mortality, large proportions of which are related to cardiovascular health (CVH). Methods: We searched for National Institutes of Health (NIH) supported research as well as that of two other Agencies in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for fiscal years (FY) 2016-2021. Grants included maternal health conditions or exposures across all pregnancy stages, but excluded grants that focused entirely on birth, neonatal, infant/childhood outcomes. Results were manually curated by reviewing the abstract and specific aims. Grants deemed to be relevant were grouped by category. Results: Between FY 2016-2021, overall Maternal Health grants remained unchanged at an average of 1.4% of total DHHS grant funding. Maternal CVH-specific (MCVH) funding amounted to $278,926,105 for 755 grants, $191,344,649 was for 534 Type-1 grants, representing a twofold increase. Non-NIH DHHS agencies most commonly funded general Maternal Health related to CVH; NIH focused funding classified as hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, maternal morbidity and mortality, obesity, and diabetes. Non-NIH DHSS Agencies most commonly funded clinical applied research. In addition to clinical applied grants, NIH funded substantial proportions of grants classified as basic research, clinical trials, and/or translational. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) MCVH grants studied participants in the pre-partum period (78.5%), followed by the post-partum period (50.5%), with relatively few in pre-pregnancy and peri-partum periods (10.8% and 9.7%, respectively); at the NIH level, the peri-partum period had better representation at 20.3%, whereas the pre-pregnancy period remained low at 9.9%. Conclusions: Federal grant funding for maternal health including MCVH increased at the same rate as its funding for overall research, and represented only 1.4% of overall total funding. The pre-pregnancy period was understudied in overall NIH funding and represents a gap area whereby funding agencies could further foster research advances.

Implementing the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Strategic Vision in the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences-2022 Update.

Spurred by the 2016 release of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Strategic Vision, the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences developed its Strategic Vision Implementation Plan-a blueprint for reigniting the decline in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality rates, improving health equity, and accelerating translation of scientific discoveries into better cardiovascular health (CVH). The 6 scientific focus areas of the Strategic Vision Implementation Plan reflect the multifactorial nature of CVD and include (1) addressing social determinants of CVH and health inequities, (2) enhancing resilience, (3) promoting CVH and preventing CVD across the lifespan, (4) eliminating hypertension-related CVD, (5) reducing the burden of heart failure, and (6) preventing vascular dementia. This article presents an update of strategic vision implementation activities within Division of Cardiovascular Sciences. Overarching and cross-cutting themes include training the scientific workforce and engaging the extramural scientific community to stimulate transformative research in cardiovascular sciences. In partnership with other NIH Institutes, Federal agencies, industry, and the extramural research community, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences strategic vision implementation has stimulated development of numerous workshops and research funding opportunities. Strategic Vision Implementation Plan activities highlight innovative intervention modalities, interdisciplinary systems approaches to CVD reduction, a life course framework for CVH promotion and CVD prevention, and multi-pronged research strategies for combatting COVID-19. As new knowledge, technologies, and areas of scientific research emerge, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences will continue its thoughtful approach to strategic vision implementation, remaining poised to seize emerging opportunities and catalyze breakthroughs in cardiovascular sciences.

Cardiovascular Health Research in the Workplace: A Workshop Report.

Heart disease and stroke are the first and fifth leading causes of death in the United States, respectively. Employers have a unique opportunity to promote cardiovascular health, because >60% of US adults are employed, and most spend half of their waking hours at work. Despite the scope of the opportunity, <1 in 5 businesses implement evidence-based, comprehensive workplace health programs, policies, and practices. Integrated, systems-based workplace health approaches that harness data science and technology may have the potential to reach more employees and be cost-effective for employers. To evaluate the role of the workplace in promoting cardiovascular health across the lifespan, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the American Heart Association convened a workshop on March 7, 2019, to share best practices, and to discuss current evidence and knowledge gaps, practical application, and dissemination of the evidence, and the need for innovation in workplace health research and practice. This report presents the broad themes discussed at the workshop and considerations for promoting worker cardiovascular health, including opportunities for future research.

Implementing the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Strategic Vision in the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences.

As we commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and celebrate important milestones that have been achieved by the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences (DCVS), it is imperative that DCVS and the Extramural Research community at-large continue to address critical public health challenges that persist within the area of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD). The NHLBI's Strategic Vision, developed with extensive input from the extramural research community and published in 2016, included overarching goals and strategic objectives that serve to provide a general blueprint for sustaining the legacy of the Institute by leveraging opportunities in emerging scientific areas (e.g., regenerative medicine, omics technology, data science, precision medicine, and mobile health), finding new ways to address enduring challenges (e.g., social determinants of health, health inequities, prevention, and health promotion), and training the next generation of heart, lung, blood, and sleep researchers. DCVS has developed a strategic vision implementation plan to provide a cardiovascular framing for the pursuit of the Institute's overarching goals and strategic objectives garnered from the input of the broader NHLBI community. This plan highlights six scientific focus areas that demonstrate a cross-cutting and multifaceted approach to addressing cardiovascular sciences, including 1) addressing social determinants of cardiovascular health (CVH) and health inequities, 2) enhancing resilience, 3) promoting CVH and preventing CVD Across the lifespan, 4) eliminating hypertension-related CVD, 5) reducing the burden of heart failure, and 6) preventing vascular dementia. These priorities will guide our efforts in Institute-driven activities in the coming years but will not exclude development of other novel ideas or the support of investigator-initiated grant awards. The DCVS Strategic Vision implementation plan is a living document that will evolve with iterative dialogue with the NHLBI community and adapt as the dynamic scientific landscape changes to seize emerging opportunities.

Performance and predictors of recruitment success in National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's cardiovascular clinical trials.

Background/Aims Identifying predictors of recruitment success in clinical trials, particularly prior to study launch, could contribute to higher study completion rates and improved scientific return on investment. This article evaluates the performance of clinical trials funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute that began recruitment before and after implementation of National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's 2009 Accrual Policy and identifies study-related factors that predict recruitment success. Methods A retrospective analysis of National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's cardiovascular clinical trials with initial funding from 1996 to 2012 was performed to assess recruitment success. Success was defined as ≥100% enrollment of the proposed sample size within the duration initially proposed by investigators. Trials were assigned to categories (pre-policy vs post-policy) based on whether the first patient was enrolled before or after the 2009 Accrual Policy implementation. Potential determinants of successful recruitment were evaluated using multivariable logistic regression. Results Of 167 trials analyzed, 26.3% met the definition of success. Twenty-four trials (14.4%) were terminated early and 15 (62.5%) for insufficient recruitment. Trials failed due to <100% enrollment (22.8%), longer duration (19.8%), or both (31.1%). Trials testing behavioral interventions, those conducted within a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-funded network, and those with normal controls were predictive of success. The proportion of successful clinical trials increased from 23% in the pre-policy era to 30% post-policy, although the difference was not statistically significant ( p = 0.29). Conclusion Enrollment success rates for National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's clinical trials are concerning. The 2009 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Accrual Policy did not significantly improve trial success. Clinical trials testing behavioral interventions, those conducted within networks, and those with normal controls were predictive of recruitment success. Components of networks may provide model practices to help other trials attain success, including close attention to oversight activities such as recruitment plans, real-time enrollment monitoring, corrective action plans to address shortfalls, and close sponsor-investigator collaborations.

Decline in Cardiovascular Mortality: Possible Causes and Implications.

If the control of infectious diseases was the public health success story of the first half of the 20th century, then the decline in mortality from coronary heart disease and stroke has been the success story of the century's past 4 decades. The early phase of this decline in coronary heart disease and stroke was unexpected and controversial when first reported in the mid-1970s, having followed 60 years of gradual increase as the US population aged. However, in 1978, the participants in a conference convened by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute concluded that a significant recent downtick in coronary heart disease and stroke mortality rates had definitely occurred, at least in the US Since 1978, a sharp decline in mortality rates from coronary heart disease and stroke has become unmistakable throughout the industrialized world, with age-adjusted mortality rates having declined to about one third of their 1960s baseline by 2000. Models have shown that this remarkable decline has been fueled by rapid progress in both prevention and treatment, including precipitous declines in cigarette smoking, improvements in hypertension treatment and control, widespread use of statins to lower circulating cholesterol levels, and the development and timely use of thrombolysis and stents in acute coronary syndrome to limit or prevent infarction. However, despite the huge growth in knowledge and advances in prevention and treatment, there remain many questions about this decline. In fact, there is evidence that the rate of decline may have abated and may even be showing early signs of reversal in some population groups. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, through a request for information, is soliciting input that could inform a follow-up conference on or near the 40th anniversary of the original landmark conference to further explore these trends in cardiovascular mortality in the context of what has come before and what may lie ahead.