UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is one of four participating sites in the Diabetes LEAD Network. The UAB site is centered in the Department of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health and affiliated departments include biostatistics, medicine and sociology. With the inclusion of researchers at East Carolina University and Weill Medical College of Cornell University, our team has expertise in epidemiology, biostatistics, medicine, pharmacy, sociology, health disparities, and clinical interventions. For this network, our team will investigate social factors that contribute to a greater burden of diabetes and high blood pressure in the southeastern United States.

We will leverage information from national databases, the NIH-funded Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, and Medicare to address the following aims:

1. To assess geographic differences in the prevalence and incidence of diabetes and high blood pressure in the southeastern United States; and
2. To identify individual-level and community-level social factors that contribute to a higher prevalence and incidence of diabetes and high blood pressure in the southeastern United States.