# StoP STRokE: Sex-Specific Prevention of Stroke Through Reproductive Risk Factors and Sex Hormone Effects

> **NIH NIH K23** · RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL · 2022 · $184,402

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
 Dr. Tracy E. Madsen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Rhode Island
Hospital and the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. In the proposed research project, Dr. Madsen will
investigate differences in ischemic stroke risk between women and men and will investigate potential reasons
for sex differences in stroke risk including the influence of sex hormones and sex hormone binding globulin
(SHBG) on biologic mechanisms leading to vascular disease. Dr. Madsen's Career Development Award has
the potential to lead to a greater understanding of sex differences in ischemic stroke risk as well as more
knowledge of how sex hormones and SHBG affect stroke risk in women and men. These findings could lead to
novel ways to predict stroke risk and prevent stroke in a more personalized, sex-specific manner and to the
use of primary and secondary prevention strategies for vascular disease in ED patients.
 In the first phase, Dr. Madsen will conduct secondary analyses of two national datasets (Greater Cincinnati/
Northern Kentucky Stroke Study and Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke) to investigate
sex differences in stroke incidence over time and sex differences in the severity of stroke risk factors. In the
second aim, Dr. Madsen will use existing stroke cohorts (Women's Health Initiative (WHI) and the Framingham
Heart Study (FHS)) to study the potential sex-specific association between SHBG and ischemic stroke. This
will include the investigation of the relationship between SHBG and other markers of vascular risk including
insulin resistance, inflammation, and lipid metabolism. Finally, in the third aim, she will develop a sex-specific
stroke risk score that includes factors related to reproductive history as well as sex hormone biomarkers and
conduct a pilot validation study.
 Dr. Madsen has assembled an interdisciplinary team of committed, well-qualified co-mentors and
collaborators: Dr. Simin Liu, primary mentor with expertise in the study of SHBG, sex steroids, and molecular
mechanisms leading to vascular disease risk, Dr. Jo-Ann Manson, mentor with expertise in reproductive
endocrinology, Dr. Karen Furie, with expertise in stroke prevention in women and clinical trials in stroke
prevention, Dr. Dawn Kleindorfer, a nationally known stroke epidemiologist with expertise in sex differences in
stroke, and Dr. Virginia Howard, another stroke epidemiologist but with expertise in the use of longitudinal data
from stroke cohorts to study sex differences in stroke epidemiology. Collaborators include Dr. Sudha Seshadri,
MD, a senior investigator of the Framingham Study and Dr. Jane Khoury, PhD, statistician on the project. Dr.
Madsen will be completing her proposed research activities in the Department of Emergency Medicine
affiliated with Rhode Island Hospital, a comprehensive stroke center, the Alpert Medical School of Brown
University, and the Brown University School of Public He...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10460151
- **Project number:** 5K23HL140081-05
- **Recipient organization:** RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Tracy Madsen
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $184,402
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-08-15 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10460151

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10460151, StoP STRokE: Sex-Specific Prevention of Stroke Through Reproductive Risk Factors and Sex Hormone Effects (5K23HL140081-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10460151. Licensed CC0.

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