The overall goals of the Natarajan Lab’s research are to improve cardiovascular disease risk assessment and to optimize care for complex chronic conditions like diabetes and heart failure. We are currently involved in numerous behavioral clinical trials and clinical quality improvement projects.

VALOR-QI: Veterans Affairs Lipid Optimization Reimagined Quality Improvement Program for Patients with Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease

This quality improvement project aims to refine clinical pathways and processes to impact atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) management of veterans through a learning healthcare system model of quality improvement designed to enhance the management of dyslipidemia among those with high-risk ASCVD.

Learn more about this project from the American Heart Association.

Pragmatic Evaluation of Events and Benefits of Lipid-Lowering in Older Adults (PREVENTABLE)

This large study’s objective is to generate knowledge about the role of statins in older adults in whom risk/benefit for primary prevention is understudied. The purpose is to learn if taking a statin could help older adults live well for longer by preventing dementia, disability, or heart disease.

Learn more about the PREVENTABLE study.

Preventing Amputation by Tailored Risk-based Intervention to Optimize Treatment (PATRIOT)

This four-year randomized controlled trial (RCT) tests the effectiveness of a personalized intervention aimed to improve diet, exercise, medication adherence, and self-care in order to prevent incident foot lesions in patients with diabetes (primary prevention trial).

See full clinical trial information.

STEP UP to Avert Amputation in Diabetes

This four-year trial tests the effectiveness of a tailored intervention designed to improve self-care and self-monitoring in order to prevent the recurrence of foot ulcers in patients with a previous diabetic foot ulcer (secondary prevention).

See full clinical trial information.

VIP Treatment in Heart Failure

This interdisciplinary, theory-based, three-arm RCT bases one active arm on the transtheoretical model (TTM), while the other active arm adds environmental (human and built) tailoring to TTM with the goals of interest being to enhance medication adherence and improve quality of life.

See full clinical trial information.

VALOR in Heart Failure

This trial evaluates a quality improvement program (QIP) to improve heart failure care using a pretest-posttest control group design. The QIP involves a patient-based behavioral and checklist intervention, as well as provider and system-targeted checklists and treatment defaults.

See full clinical trial information.

The SMILE BP Toolkit Project

This builds on our blood pressure trial to develop and pilot a toolkit and then perform formative evaluation of toolkit implementation.

See full clinical trial information.

TACTICS

This RCT tests the effects of a transtheoretical model-based intervention and a prospect theory-based intervention in improving low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in adults with diabetes.

See full clinical trial information.

A Behavioral Intervention to Improve Hypertension Control

This three-arm RCT evaluates whether a telephone-delivered stage-matched behavioral intervention is effective in lowering blood pressure compared to a health education intervention and usual care.

See full clinical trial information.