MS Biostatistics Student Will Serve as Principal Investigator on New Grant

Steven Pan, a Master of Science Biostatistics student in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, was recently awarded a grant through the Strong Heart Study and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Steven will serve as the principal investigator for the grant, under his mentors- Tauqeer Ali, Amanda Fretts and Sixia Chen. The grant project is titled “Associations between Pedometer-Measured Physical Activity Levels and Incidence of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Diseases in Strong Heart Study Participants”.

The goal of this project is to evaluate the association between average daily step counts and incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in Strong Heart Study participants. Researchers will conduct a retrospective cohort study by selecting de-identified participant information from SHS Phase IV (2000-2005) family study based on the eligibility criteria. Relevant participant characteristics will be summarized for the entire cohort and for each quartile of daily step counts. They include age, gender, SHS study center (AZ/DK/OK), education level, smoking status, alcohol use status, baseline diabetes status, baseline hypertension status, LDL level, Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI), 2020 CHD outcome assessment status (definite MI, probable MI, possible MI, definite CHD, possible CHD). The primary exposure is the number of steps per day measured by the pedometer.