Objective 3: Investigate factors that account for differences in health status among populations

Variations exist between populations — grouped by factors such as age, sex, race, and ancestry — in susceptibility and resilience to heart, lung, and blood diseases and disorders as well as in disease course and outcomes. Although some of these variations are caused by genetic and other biological factors, a wide range of environmental and behavioral factors and socioeconomic inequities also contribute to health disparities. Research is needed to better understand the causes of population health differences and to identify strategies to effectively address them. Investigations in this area may range from basic laboratory studies to environmental and population science to community-centered implementation research.

Envision a future in which we can...
  • Leverage a deeper understanding of biologic differences related to sex or ancestral groups (e.g., variation in ancestry leading to differences in asthma phenotypes among ethnic subgroups) to devise more precise, targeted intervention strategies and to further improve clinical outcomes.
  • Leverage epidemiology and the power of data science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to understand and reduce sex-, race-, ethnicity-, and location-related health disparities.
  • Incorporate measures of diet and nutrition inequities, geographic location and exposures, and health disparities in research on heart, lung, and blood disease and sleep disorders across the lifespan, using existing longitudinal cohorts, innovative designs for collecting exposure data, big data approaches, individual biospecimens, and imaging using remote digital technologies.

Overarching Objectives

  1. Understand normal biological function and resilience
  2. Investigate newly discovered pathobiological mechanisms important to the onset and progression of heart, lung, and blood diseases and sleep disorders
  3. Investigate factors that account for differences in health status among populations
  4. Identify factors that account for individual differences in pathobiology and in responses to treatments
  5. Develop and optimize novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to prevent, treat, and cure heart, lung, and blood diseases and sleep disorders
  6. Optimize clinical and implementation research to improve health and reduce disease
  7. Leverage emerging opportunities in data science to open new frontiers in research on heart, lung, and blood diseases and sleep disorders
  8. Further develop and sustain a scientific workforce capable of accomplishing NHLBI’s mission