Program for the Care and Study of the Aging Heart

Grants

Dive into our comprehensive list of active, completed, and future grants, showcasing the diverse range of projects conducted in our research program. Explore the transformative outcomes and advancements achieved through our dedicated efforts, supported by prestigious funding agencies, foundations, and institutions. From addressing new frontiers in scientific discovery to pressing societal challenges, our research grants reflect our commitment to innovation and making a lasting impact.

Our Active Grants:

A Novel Deprescribing Intervention for Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF)

Agency: NIA

Project Period: 08/15/2020 – 05/31/2025

Principal Investigator(s): Parag Goyal, MD

Goal(s): To develop and study single-patient (N-of-1) trials as an intervention to promote shared decision making among older adults with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

N-of-1 Trials to Promote Deprescribing in Older Adults with Transthyretin Cardiac Amyloidosis

Agency: The U.S. Deprescribing Research Network

Project Period: 05/2023 – 04/2024

Principal Investigator(s): Parag Goyal, MD

Goal(s): To develop a shared decision making tool (N-of-trials) to facilitate medication optimization (and deprescribing) for older adults with cardiac amyloidosis.

Preventing Myocardial Events of Aging: A PREVENTABLE Ancillary Study (PRIME)

Agency: NIA 

Project Period: 09/2023-08/2028

Principal Investigater: Parag Goyal, MD

Goal(s): To determine whether statins prevent incident HFpEF hospitalizations and AMI in older adults, and to determine the impact of relying on diagnosis codes to identify HFpEF and AMI. 

Advancing the Conversations Helpful for Awareness of Illness Trajectory (CHAT) Intervention

Agency: NIA 

Project Period: 04/2023 - 03/2025 

Principal Investigator(s): Parag Goyal, MD; Megan Shen, Ph.D. (Fred Hutch Cancer Center)

Goal(s): To pilot the "Conversations Helpful for Awareness of Illness Trajectory (CHAT)" intervention to improve communication about illness trajectory, and subsequently improve symptom burden and advance care planning among patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

DEPRESCRIBE-HFpEF

Agency: NIA 

Project Period: 09/01/2024 - 08/31/2024

Principal Investigator(s): Parag Goyal, MD; Andrew Ambrosy (Kaiser Permanente Northern California) 

Goal(s): This double-blinded placebo-controlled deprescribing randomized clinical trial will test whether deprescribing beta-blocker improves clinical outcomes in older adults with HFpEF.  

Post-Acute Care Medication Use and Functional Recovery in Heart Failure

Agency: NIA 

Project Period: 09/01/2024 - 05/31/2029

Principal Investigator(s): Andrew Reis Zullo, MD (Brown University); Parag Goyal, MD 

Goal(s): To examine the effects of using individual medications for heart failure and other common conditions (e.g., pain) as well as using multiple medications together on physical function and successful discharge from SNFs to home.

 

Active Collaborative Grants:

Structural Racism and Cardiovascular Outcomes Among Cancer Survivors

Agency: NCI

Project Period: 5/7/2024 – 4/30/2031 

Principal Investigator(s): Laura Pinheiro (Weill Cornell Medicine) 

Goal(s): To determine the role of SDOH (structural racism and individual socio-economic position) on CVD outcomes among a community-based cohort of 8,000 male and female adults with cancer.

Coronary Artery Calcium in the PRagmatic EValuation of evENTs And Benefits of Lipid lowering in the Elderly: CAC PREVENTABLE

Agency: NHLBI 

Project Period: 11/30/2023 - 07/31/2026

Principal Investigator(s): Melissa Daubert, MD (Duke University); Michael Blaha, MD (Johns Hopkins University), Nicholas Pajewski, PhD (Wake Forset University)

Goal(s): This PREVENTABLE ancillary study aims to explore the role of calcium score in evaluating cardiovascular events and the benefits of lipid-lowering interventions in elderly individuals.

Improving TRansitions ANd OutcomeS for Heart FailurE Patients in Home Health CaRe (I-TRANSFER-HF)

Agency: NHLBI

Project Period: 09/2023 - 06/2028

Principal Investigator(s): Madeline Sterling, MD (Weill Cornell Medicine)

Goal(s): To dramatically improve care and outcomes for HF patients and produce novel insights for the dissemination and implementation of HHC nationally

Pragmatic Evaluation of Events and Benefits of Lipid-lowering in Older Adults

Agency: NIA

Project Period: 09/30/2019 - 08/31/2027

Principal Investigator(s): Karen Alexander, MD (Duke University); Walter Ambrosius Ph.D. (Wake Forest University); Adrian Hernandez, MD (Duke University); Jeff Williamson, MD (Wake Forest University)

Goal(s): To evaluate the efficacy of statins for reducing the primary composite of death, dementia, and persistent disability and secondary composites including mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and cardiovascular events.

Cardiac Magnetic Resonance for Tissue Characterization-Based Risk Stratification

Agency: NHLBI

Project Period: 09/01/2021 – 07/31/2026

Principal Investigator(s): Jiwon Kim, MD (Weill Cornell Medicine)

Goal(s): To utilize cardiac MRI to assess cardiac contractile function for prediction of long-term cardiopulmonary symptoms, effort tolerance, and prognosis for COVID-19 survivors.

Physical Rehabilitation for Older Patients with Acute HFpEF – The REHAB-HFpEF Trial

Agency: NIA

Project Period: 10/01/2022 – 09/30/2027

Principal Investigator(s): Dalane Kitzman, MD (Wake Forest University)

Goal(s): To determine whether the REHAB-HF intervention, compared with attention control usual care, will reduce the primary endpoint of combined all-cause rehospitalizations and all-cause mortality in older patients hospitalized with acute decompensated HFpEF at 6 months follow-up.

REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke-Myocardial Infarction-4 (REGARDS-MI-4)

Agency: NHLBI

Project Period: 07/01/2022 – 06/30/2026

Principal Investigator(s): Monika Safford, MD (Weill Cornell Medicine); Emily Levitan, ScD (University of Alabama - Birmingham)

Goal(s): 1) To identify novel mechanisms leading to disparities in incident and recurrent CHD (congenital heart disease) and HF, and outcomes following CHD or HF events including reserve and resilience; 2) To adjudicate heart-related outcomes (CHD, HF hospitalizations, causes of death), link Medicare data, and make these data available to the scientific community; and 3) To build capacity in CHD and HF health disparities research through the mentorship of ESIs. 

Improve the Meaning of Patient Reported Outcomes to Evaluate Effectiveness for Cardiac Care (IMPROVE-Cardiac Care)

Agency: NHLBI

Project Period: 07/01/2022 – 06/30/2027

Principal Investigator(s): Ruth Masterson Creber, Ph.D. (Columbia University)

Goal(s): To establish minimally important differences in specific cohorts of cardiac patients and to support the use of patient reported outcomes in clinical care.

 

Completed Grants:

Successful Aging and Cardiovascular Disease

Agency: American Heart Association

Project Period: 07/01/2020 – 06/30/2023

Principal Investigator(s): Parag Goyal, MD

Goal(s): To determine the impact of cardiovascular disease on successful aging, and identify factors of resilience.

Patient-Identified Contributors to Readmission Among Older Adults with Heart Failure

Agency: New York Academy of Medicine

Project Period: 07/01/2016 – 06/30/2017

Principal Investigator(s): Parag Goyal, MD

Goal(s): To better understand patient-reported experiences and contributors to rehospitalization among older adults with heart failure.

Delivery System Reform Incentive Payments (DSRIP)

Agency: New York State Department of Health

Project Period: 09/01/2017 – 04/30/2018

Clinical Lead(s): Parag Goyal, MD 

Goal(s): To develop processes at New York Presbyterian Hospital—Weill Cornell that contribute to the broader restructure the health care delivery system with the primary goal of reducing avoidable hospital use.

Impact of Polypharmacy on Rehospitalization in Older Adults with Heart Failure

Agency: NIH/NIA

Project Period: 07/15/2017 – 05/30/2020 (NCE)

Principal Investigator(s): Parag Goyal, MD 

Goal(s): To examine the association between polypharmacy and 30-day rehospitalization among older adults following a hospitalization for heart failure.

Management of Polypharmacy Among Older Adults Hospitalized for Heart Failure

Agency: Weill Cornell Medicine Department of Medicine

Project Period: 07/01/2017 – 06/30/2020

Principal Investigator(s): Parag Goyal, MD

Goal(s): To characterize harmful medication patterns (including potentially inappropriate medication use) among older adults with heart failure.

Heart Failure Preserved Ejection Fraction Program for the Aging Heart

Agency: Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation

Project Period: 07/01/2018 – 06/30/2020

Principal Investigator(s): Parag Goyal, MD 

Goal(s): To develop a new clinical program and research infrastructure to provide dedicated subspecialty care to older adults with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

Safety of Neurohormonal Antagonist Initiation Among Older Adults

Agency: American Heart Association

Project Period: 07/01/2018 – 06/30/2021 (NCE)

Principal Investigator(s): Parag Goyal, MD 

Goal(s): To examine the safety of starting multiple NHAs in older adults following a hospitalization for HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).

Impact of Beta-blocker on Physical Function in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF)

Agency: New York Community Trust

Project Period: 10/08/2019 – 10/31/2022

Principal Investigator(s): Parag Goyal, MD 

Goal(s): To examine the impact of beta-blockers on exercise parameters among older adults with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).