# Preconception and prenatal stress effects on cardiovascular disease risk in black women

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2020 · $739,043

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity and disproportionately affects
Black American women. Compelling evidence highlights pregnancy as an important window for identifying
future CVD risk. Although Black women are also at elevated risk for cardiovascular complications during
pregnancy, heterogeneity is poorly understood and differentiated phenotypes of CVD risk before, during and
after pregnancy are lacking. Consistent with models of racial stress, Black women are often exposed to
contextual stressors (e.g., discrimination stress, adversity, violence) over the lifespan that contribute to racial
disparities in health via alterations in stress regulation systems. Prenatal stress reactivity has been linked to
poor obstetric health and adverse birth outcomes, but the effects of on women’s cardiovascular morbidity in the
postpartum period are unclear. In response to RFA-MD-20-800 ‘Addressing Racial Disparities in Maternal
Mortality and Morbidity’, the proposed research examines individual differences in prenatal stress regulation as
a biological pathway through which early and chronic stress exposure impacts postpartum CVD risk among
Black women. The study also builds on growing evidence shows that dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids
(PUFAs) are associated with reduced stress reactivity and CVD risk, and our own work with Black women
supports their utility as a modifiable target for intervention during pregnancy. Thus, we will explore the
protective effects of prenatal PUFA levels on the association between lifetime stress and postpartum CVD risk.
 The Pittsburgh Girls Study (PGS), a 20-year longitudinal study that began annual assessments of stress
exposures in childhood, provides an unprecedented opportunity to elucidate phenotypes of peripartum CVD
risk as a function of lifetime stress. We propose to recruit Black pregnant women (N = 400) from the PGS and
collect biobehavioral measures of CVD risk (i.e., lipids, blood sugar, blood pressure, adiposity, diet, smoking
and activity) and inflammatory markers at 2, 12 and 24 months postpartum. These new data will be linked to
extant PGS data on preconception and prenatal CVD biobehavioral markers, lifetime stress exposures, and
prenatal stress regulation to address the following Specific Aims among Black women: (1) Elucidate peripartum
phenotypes of CVD risk related to life stress; (2) Examine the impact of prenatal stress regulation on
postpartum CVD risk; and (3) Explore the moderating effects of prenatal PUFAs on CVD risk. The proposed
longitudinal study builds on the prior work of the multidisciplinary investigative team and will provide the first
rigorous examination of peripartum phenotypes of CVD risk among Black women. Achieving the stated aims
will inform causal models of risk and generate critical knowledge for optimizing the timing of, and novel targets
for, interventions to reduce persistent racial disparities in maternal cardiovascular mor...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10170669
- **Project number:** 1R01HL157787-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** ALISON E HIPWELL
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $739,043
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-15 → 2025-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10170669

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10170669, Preconception and prenatal stress effects on cardiovascular disease risk in black women (1R01HL157787-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10170669. Licensed CC0.

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