U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know
Here’s how you know

**Official websites use .gov**
A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

**Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
A **lock** ( A locked padlock) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Search Query:
			MAIN MENU

																				
              Health Topics
								All Health Topics A-Z
					
													
		

		Asthma


				

															Heart-Healthy Living


				

															High Blood Pressure


				

															Sickle Cell Disease


				

															Sleep Apnea


				

															Information & Resources on COVID-19
																				
              Health Education
								Education Programs and Initiatives
					
													
		

		The Heart Truth®


				

															Learn More Breathe Better®


				

															Blood Diseases and Disorders Education Program


				

															Publications and Resources
																				
              The Science
								Research Focus Areas
					
													
		

		Blood Disorders and Blood Safety


				

															Sleep Science and Sleep Disorders


				

															Lung Diseases


				

															Health Disparities and Inequities


				

															Heart and Vascular Diseases


				

															Precision Medicine Activities


				

															Obesity, Nutrition, and Physical Activity


				

															Population and Epidemiology Studies


				

															Women’s Health


				

															Research Topics


				

															Clinical Trials


				

															All Science A-Z
																				
              Grants and Training
								Grants and Training Home


				

															Policies and Guidelines


				

															Funding Opportunities and Contacts


				

															Training and Career Development
																				
              News and Events
								News and Events Home
					
													
		

		Email Alerts


				

															All News
					
													
		

		NHLBI News


				

															NHLBI in the Press


				

															Research Features


				

															All Events
					
													
		

		Past Events


				

															Upcoming Events
																				
              About NHLBI
								About NHLBI Home
					
													
		

		Mission and Strategic Vision


				

															Leadership


				

															Divisions, Offices and Centers


				

															Advisory Committees


				

															Budget and Legislative Information


				

															Jobs and Working at the NHLBI


				

															Contact and FAQs


				

															NIH Sleep Research Plan
						
						HOME
		Search Text: Home/< Back ToThe Science/Social Determinants of Obesity and Cardiovascular Risk
  Social Determinants of Obesity and Cardiovascular Risk
    The Social Determinants of Obesity and Cardiovascular Risk Laboratory, led by Dr. Tiffany Powell-Wiley, focuses on the role of psychosocial and environmental determinants in the development of obesity and obesity-related cardiovascular risk factors and identifying intervention targets for populations most impacted by disparities in cardiovascular outcomes.
    On This Page
    
          Dr. Tiffany Powell-Wiley
  Tiffany Powell-Wiley, M.D., M.P.H.
          Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator
          Email
      Meet the Team
            Contact us
  Senior Investigator Research Interests
            
  Research Interests
              It is safe to say that during the decades in which obesity has become an epidemic in the United States, the human gene pool has not been concomitantly altered. Thus, although heredity does play a role in susceptibility to obesity and obesity-related disorders, the social, behavioral, and environmental contributions cannot be overlooked if effective prevention and treatment strategies are to be designed. Dr. Powell-Wiley focuses her research on the social determinants of obesity and obesity-related cardiovascular risk factors that contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Powell-Wiley's lab has three interrelated research goals. First, she and her colleagues use epidemiologic methods and geographic information systems to understand the socioeconomic, psychosocial, and environmental factors that promote adverse weight gain and incident cardiovascular risk factors in multi-ethnic, population-based cohorts. Environmental factors include the level of built-in resources available to a community, but they also encompass psychosocial factors such as perceptions of neighborhood environment. A second goal is to translate findings from these epidemiologic studies into community-based interventions targeting barriers to health behavior change for at-risk populations. The research group's final goal is to identify and characterize physiologic pathways influenced by the chronic stress of living in adverse neighborhood conditions, ultimately elucidating pathways linked to cardiovascular risk phenotypes and most responsive to targeted health behavior interventions.

As an advocate and physician scientist, Dr. Powell-Wiley has spearheaded the development of a community-based cardiovascular health behavior intervention in the greater Washington D.C. area, specifically addressing key social determinants of obesity. Dr. Powell-Wiley has made it a priority to target specific Washington D.C. wards where obesity and cardiovascular disease are most prevalent. She has intentionally built relationships with key leaders in the community, especially within the faith-based community, in order to advocate for and help implement programs involving these populations.

In the winter of 2022, Dr. Powell-Wiley and her team opened the Hope Center, a community-based research space in Washington, D.C.’s Ward 5 (Northeast), where she and her team see participants in clinical trials and conduct community outreach. The Hope Center brings clinical research directly to the community helping alleviate the challenges many research participants have getting to research sites far from their homes. The NHLBI partnered with a housing community to create the Hope Center, where Dr. Powell-Wiley’s team shares space with several collaborators, including the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases and the NIH Clinical Center.

The Powell-Wiley lab is grounded in the principles of community-based participatory research which aided in designing and executing the Washington, D.C. Cardiovascular Health and Needs Assessment. The information gathered from this assessment has been paramount in learning about the population in order to: 1) implement culturally relevant, effective interventions which address the unique needs of individuals living in urban, limited-resource environments and 2) begin to uncover mechanisms by which psychosocial and environmental factors "get under the skin" to increase cardiovascular risk.

One-size-fits-all public health approaches to the obesity epidemic have not proven effective. Dr. Powell-Wiley's hope is that by taking a multidisciplinary approach to better understanding socioeconomic, psychosocial, and environmental factors that impact obesity and other markers of cardiovascular risk, she can develop interventions to improve cardiovascular health that are tailored to community-based environments.
  Clinical Trials and Studies
Heart Health Study in Washington, D.C., to Develop a Community-Based Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention
				Recruiting
											
											Adult, Older Adult
					
											All Genders
					
																		Accepting Healthy Volunteers

				Are you a black man or women who has obesity and lives in Washington D.C.? This study aims to understand the health and health needs of people in predominately black churches in Washington, D.C. This information will help researchers design programs to improve heart health in these communities. To participate in this study, you must be between 19 and 85 years old and attend one of the churches in the study. This study is based in Bethesda, Maryland.Tailoring Mobile Health Technology to Reduce Obesity and Improve Cardiovascular Health in Resource-Limited Neighborhood Environments
				Recruiting
											
											Adult, Older Adult
					
											Female
					
																		Accepting Healthy Volunteers

				Are you an African American woman at risk for diabetes? This study is testing whether using mobile health technology, such as smartphone apps and activity monitors, can help increase physical activity in African American women who are at risk for diabetes. To participate in this study, you must be an African American woman between 25 and 75 years old, have evidence of insulin resistance, and live in Prince George’s County, Maryland, or Ward 5, 7, or 8 in Washington, D.C. This study is located in Bethesda, Maryland.Pilot Study for Geospatial Analysis of Neighborhood Environmental Stress in Relation to Biological Markers of Cardiovascular Health and Health Behaviors in Women
				Recruiting
											
											Adult
					
											Female
					
																		Accepting Healthy Volunteers

				Are you a healthy adult woman living in Washington, DC, and interested in helping researchers learn about heart disease? This study is exploring differences in stress and exercise habits among women who live in different areas of the city. To participate in this study, you must be a healthy woman between the ages of 19 and 45 living in Washington, DC, wards 3 or 5 with access to a smartphone. This study takes place in Washington, DC, and Maryland.
Featured Publications
                Imaging the rapid yet transient accumulation of regulatory lipids, lipid kinases, and protein kinases during membrane fusion, at sites of exocytosis of MMP-9 in MCF-7 cells
            Authors:Stephens DC, Powell TW, Taraska JW, Harris DA.
                                                                                                                        
            Lipids Health Dis.
      
                2020 Aug 23;19(1):195
        Read Publication
                      Association of Cardiovascular Disease With Premature Mortality in the United States.
            Authors:Chen Y, Freedman ND, Albert PS, Huxley RR, Shiels MS, Withrow DR, Spillane S, Powell-Wiley TM, Berrington de González A
                                                                                            
            JAMA Cardiol
      
                2019 Oct 16;Epub ahead of print:
        Read Publication
                      Cross-Sectional Associations of Neighborhood Perception, Physical Activity, and Sedentary Time in Community-Dwelling, Socioeconomically Diverse Adults.
            Authors:Claudel SE, Shiroma EJ, Harris TB, Mode NA, Ahuja C, Zonderman AB, Evans MK, Powell-Wiley TM
                                                                                                                        
            Front Public Health
      
                2019 Sep 13;7(256):10.3389/fpubh.2019.00256
        Read Publication
                      Household Cooking Frequency of Dinner Among Non-Hispanic Black Adults is Associated with Income and Employment, Perceived Diet Quality and Varied Objective Diet Quality, HEI (Healthy Eating Index): NHANES Analysis 2007-2010.
            Authors:Farmer N, Wallen GR, Yang L, Middleton KR, Kazmi N, Powell-Wiley TM.
                                                                                                                        
            Nutrients
      
                2019 Sep 02;11(9):E2057
        Read Publication
                      Neighborhood Social Environment and Cardiovascular Disease Risk.
            Authors:Tamura K, Langerman SD, Ceasar JN, Andrews MR, Agrawal M, Powell-Wiley TM
                                                                                                                        
            Curr Cardiovasc Ris Rep
      
                2019 Apr 01;13(4):7
        Read Publication
Featured Documents
      
      Published Journals
                                            2023: Neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation
                                        2022: Use of a focus group-based cognitive interview
                                        2022: Interleukin-8 (IL-8) as a Potential Mediator
                                        2022: Customizing Place-Tailored Messaging Using a Multilevel Approach
                                        2022: The Impact of a Place-Tailored Digital Health App
                                        2022: LDL associates with pro-inflammatory monocyte subset differentiation and increases in chemokine receptor profile expression in African Americans
                                        2022: Use of a community advisory board to build equitable algorithms for participation in clinical trials
                                        2021: Neighborhood environment perceptions associate with depression levels and cardiovascular risk among middle-aged and older adults
                                        2021: Comparing Methods to Identify Wear-Time Intervals for Physical Activity With the Fitbit Charge 2
                                        2021: Neighborhood Environment Associates with Trimethylamine-N-Oxide (TMAO) as a Cardiovascular Risk Marker
                                        2021: Chronic Stress-Related Neural Activity Associates With Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease
                                        2020: Multilevel mobile health approach to improve cardiovascular health in resource-limited communities with Step It Up
                  Study Flyers
                                            Health Technology to Reduce Heart Disease Study
                                        DC Geospatial Stress Study
                  Helpful Resources
                                            Community Heartbeats- Fall 2023
                                        Community Heartbeats- Summer 2023
                                        How to Get Healthy Sleep- AHA
                                        Life’s Essential 8 Fact Sheet- AHA
                                        How Sleep Affects Your Health- AHA
                                        10 Ways to Improve your Heart Health- AHA
                                        Healthy Eating- AHA
                                        Diabetes & Heart Disease- Know Your Numbers- AHA
                                        DASH Diet Eating Plan- NHLBI
                                        Stress Less for a Healthier Heart- NHLBI
                                        Self-Care: Tips for Heart Health- NHLBI
  Meet the Team

    Dr. Tiffany Powell-Wiley

            Tiffany Powell-Wiley, M.D., M.P.H.
                Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator
                Tiffany Powell-Wiley graduated *summa cum laude* from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. During medical school, she spent a year at the NIH as a research fellow in the Clinical Research Training Program. Dr. Powell-Wiley graduated from Duke University School of Medicine and completed her Master's degree in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to joining NIH, Dr. Powell-Wiley completed internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts and cardiology fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Powell-Wiley served two years as a clinical research fellow in the Reynolds Cardiovascular Research Center at UTSW. Dr. Powell-Wiley also served for one year as the Cardiology division's first chief fellow. From 2011 to 2017, Dr. Powell-Wiley was an Assistant Clinical Investigator at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. From 2011-2014, she held a joint appointment in the Office of the Associate Director of the Applied Research Program of the National Cancer Institute. Since 2017, Dr. Powell-Wiley has been an Earl Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator with a joint appointment in the Cardiovascular Branch of the Division of Intramural Research at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
    
          Contact the lab
    10 Center DrBethesda, MD 20814United States
        Phone:
                    301-594-3735
                Fax:
  Valerie Mitchell
    
            Valerie Mitchell, B.A.
        

    Clinical Research Coordinator

        valerie.mitchell@nih.gov
            Billy Collins
    
            Billy  Collins, DHSc, PA-C
        

    CDR, U.S. Public Health Service
            Nithya Vijayakumar
    
            Nithya Vijayakumar, B.S.
        

    Medical Research Scholars Fellow
            Sam Neally
    
            Sam Neally, B.A.
        

    Post-Baccalaureate Fellow
            Kaveri Curlin
    
            Kaveri  Curlin, B.S.
        

    Post-Baccalaureate Fellow
            Kosuke Tamura
    
            Kosuke  Tamura, Ph.D.
        

    Post-Doctoral Fellow
            Cristhian Gutierrez Huerta
    
            Cristhian Gutierrez Huerta, B.S.
        

    Post-Baccalaureate Fellow
            Yvonne Baumer
    
            Yvonne Baumer, Ph.D.
        

    Staff Scientist
                    Load more members Back To Top Link
  

        

        Back to top
  Web Policies & Notices
  

        

              Accessibility
                      No FEAR Act Data
                      Privacy Policy
                      Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
                      HHS Vulnerability Disclosure
    
          Related Government Websites
  

        

              Health and Human Services
                      National Institutes of Health
                      Office of the Inspector General
                      USA.gov
    
          Stay Connected
    
      
            chat bubblesLive ChatLive Chat with us, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST.envelopeGet Email AlertsReceive automatic alerts about NHLBI related news and highlights from across the Institute.
  Footer Bottom
  

        



Contact Us
                            Site Index
                            Jobs