The Strong Heart Study is designed to assess cardiovascular disease risk factors in American Indians. It is the largest epidemiologic study of American Indians ever undertaken, and the largest prospective, multicenter, epidemiological and genetic study focused on diabetes and cardiovascular disease ever conducted in any ethnic group. The study has included 13 American Indian tribes and communities in Arizona, Oklahoma, and North and South Dakota. It has been supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the United States National Institutes of Health since 1988.

Weill Cornell Cardiology has served as the ECG and Ultrasound Reading Center for the Strong Heart Study since 1992, under the direction of Dr. Richard B. Devereux, Medical Director of Weill Cornell’s Echocardiography Laboratory. Cardiology collaborators include Dr. Mary Roman, Dr. Peter Okin, and Dr. Ingrid Hriljac. This research has resulted in over 100 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals.

The Strong Heart Study has made and is continuing to make major scientific contributions and improvements to the health of American Indians as well as all other citizens of the United States. The current stage of the project, entitled Cardiovascular Disease in American Indians, is funded under NIH grant R01 HL109282 through the year 2018. In addition, a subsidiary project, the Strong Heart Stroke Study, is funded under NIH grant R01 HL093086.

For more information about the Strong Heart Study, visit strongheart.ouhsc.edu.