# Obesity Prevention in Postpartum Women at High-Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2020 · $175,248

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Obesity is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) disease that affects 39% of adults in the U.S.
Obesity rates are disproportionately rising among women and contribute to increasing rates of diabetes and
CV mortality among women younger than 55 years. Pregnancy represents a life transition when many women
gain excess weight. The effect of obesity is further magnified in women with preeclampsia, an independent and
underappreciated risk factor for future CV disease. There is a pressing need to better understand predictors of
excessive postpartum weight retention in order to deliver effective and scalable weight loss interventions
during a period when women at highest risk may be particularly receptive to lifestyle change.
 Social incentives, or the influences that impact behavior change based on relationships, are strong
motivators of healthy behavior. The use of game design elements, such as goal-setting, has been successfully
combined with social incentives to enhance healthy behavior in other disease settings. The central hypothesis
of this proposal is that a behavioral intervention using these novel approaches, combined with an established
behavioral weight loss program, will provide an effective, and scalable solution to reduce the incidence of
postpartum obesity. This proposal will leverage mentorship of senior investigators (Drs. Michal Elovitz and
Peter Groeneveld) and Penn’s mature research programs in cardiovascular medicine, maternal fetal medicine,
and behavioral economics. Research will be conducted in an urban and racially diverse population since these
women are most likely to benefit from interventions to reduce CV risk. Aim 1 will use robust statistical methods
and machine learning to create a clinical prediction tool for postpartum weight retention in an existing electronic
health record database enriched with neighborhood-level data. Aim 2 will use qualitative and mixed methods to
identify strategies to enhance the design of a pilot intervention using patient feedback. Aim 3 will implement a
2-arm single site randomized clinical trial to achieve weight loss in women with preeclampsia or gestational
hypertension participating in an online behavioral weight loss program using remote technology and social
feedback from other postpartum women.
 This proposal will identify women at an early stage in life who will benefit the most from intensive
lifestyle changes and will test and refine interventions that are able to be disseminated to postpartum women
remotely. Dr. Lewey is a general cardiologist trained in women’s health and population science with
established expertise in pregnancy associated cardiovascular disorders. The training she proposes in
advanced statistical methods, qualitative analysis, and behavioral clinical trial design will position her to
become a leader in women’s cardiovascular health. By the conclusion of this program, she will be able to
independently design, target, and evaluate beha...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10040416
- **Project number:** 1K23HL153667-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer Lewey
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $175,248
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10040416

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10040416, Obesity Prevention in Postpartum Women at High-Risk of Cardiovascular Disease (1K23HL153667-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10040416. Licensed CC0.

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