 
Cardiologist Earns Award for Unique Study of African-American Women
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Nationally recognized experts in the cardiovascular field chose 40 participants from among the many fellows and junior faculty who submitted entries, and Bransford was one of just 12 award recipients.
Bransford's research deals with the high rate of death from coronary heart disease in African American women -- two-and-a-half times higher than the mortality rate of Caucasian women. Despite this alarming statistic, there has been little research regarding the disparity. And the research that has been done has not represented a broad base of African American women. "Virtually 99 percent of studies of African American women involve participants of low socio-economic status and education level," Bransford said.
With women of a lower socio-economic level, differences in diet, disease recognition and access to health care likely play a part in incidence of mortality from heart disease. "I wanted to find out what the results would be if all those factors were taken out of the equation," Bransford said. "By testing African American medical students -- young, highly educated females with no history of heart disease -- we can start with a completely clean slate."
Bransford tested each of the medical students for endothelial dysfunction, which is thought to be the last reversible process prior to developing symptomatic atheroschlerosis (coronary artery disease). "Endothelial dysfunction is a focus of interest in cardiovascular research because within the last decade, medications have been developed that can reverse it. And now, we can test for it non-invasively by performing an ultrasound of the non-dominant forearm," Bransford said.
During the test, called the brachial artery reactivity test (which is still in the research phase), the brachial artery is examined at rest and after certain maneuvers that would normally cause it to dilate. The artery also is given an ultrasound after the subject takes medication that would definitely cause it to dilate. If the blood vessels constrict rather than dilate, the person has endothelial dysfunction.
Bransford found that the African American female medical students in her study had endothelial dysfunction, even though they had no prior history of heart disease or any of the risk factors. "This raises the question: Is there something inherent in the blood vessels of African American females that would increase their risk of coronary disease?" Bransford said.
This groundbreaking study likely will play a part in future studies regarding heart disease in African Americans, both women and men. "I hope to be involved in a long-term, epidemiological study of endothelial function in the African American community," Bransford said. "Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, and there is a dire need for more research into its role in the high mortality rate among African Americans."
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