# Howard University Research Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities

> **NIH NIH U54** · HOWARD UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $298,645

## Abstract

Project Summary
African Americans, like most Americans, have a low adherence rate to statin class of cholesterol lowering
medications prescribed for cardiovascular disease primary prevention, which contributes to disproportionate
cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. African Americans experience a cascade of disparities
in lipid evaluation and control due to a higher risk of being unscreened for dyslipidemia, not being prescribed a
statin, and a higher rate of statin nonadherence. This study will use de-identified data from the largest
longitudinal cohort in the history of the United States, the NIH All of Us Research Program, to investigate the
use of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) to improve cardiovascular disease preventive care
among African Americans by predicting an individual’s risk of statin medication adherence; this will provide a
critical opportunity for clinicians and health systems to deliver tailored point-of-care interventions that prevent
onset of medication nonadherence. Lack of effective interventions for medication nonadherence is a major
problem that worsens the ongoing chronic disease epidemic. This study aims to apply AI/ML methodology to
develop predictive models to identify African Americans at risk of nonadherence to statin class of cholesterol
lowering medications. In addition, this study will perform an analysis of the prevalence of disparities in
cardiovascular disease prevent care with statins among the Black population and the White population enrolled
in the NIH All of Us Research program.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10654332
- **Project number:** 3U54MD007597-34S4
- **Recipient organization:** HOWARD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** William M. Southerland
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $298,645
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 1997-09-30 → 2024-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10654332

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10654332, Howard University Research Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities (3U54MD007597-34S4). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10654332. Licensed CC0.

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