Finding women at risk for heart disease after pregnancy complications
Official title: Leveraging machine learning for cardiovascular disease risk prediction and prevention in women with a history of adverse pregnancy outcomes
Funded at Brigham and Women's Hospital · NIH-11234257 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses machine learning to find which women who had pregnancy complications are most likely to develop heart disease so they can get earlier follow-up and prevention.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Brigham and Women's Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | December 15, 2023 |
| Project end | November 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $800,758 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HL167960-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11234257 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Women with a history of adverse pregnancy outcomes—preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, preterm birth, or small-for-gestational-age infant—especially those recently delivered or with linked medical records, are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
Women without a history of pregnancy complications or those without available medical records may not directly benefit from this project.
What this research studies
If you had a pregnancy complication such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, high blood pressure in pregnancy, preterm birth, or a small baby, researchers will use your delivery and early postpartum information to look for patterns tied to later heart problems. They will combine details about the pregnancy, delivery, baby outcomes, health and lifestyle, and other medical records and run machine learning to identify risk "types" among women with these histories. The team aims to build a clinical decision tool that providers could use at or soon after delivery to guide blood pressure, cholesterol, or lifestyle follow-up and prevention. The work will use large linked datasets and may include follow-up of health outcomes years after delivery.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could help doctors identify high-risk women early and offer targeted prevention to lower future heart disease risk.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies showed that pregnancy complications are linked to higher heart disease risk, but using machine learning to define risk phenotypes and build a clinical decision tool is a new approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Rich-Edwards, Janet W — Brigham and Women's Hospital
- Study coordinator: Rich-Edwards, Janet W
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Pregnancy complications and women's long-term heart health
This project looks at whether complications during pregnancy predict higher risk of heart and blood vessel disease later in life for women.
-
Cardiovascular Risk in at-risk Hispanic women after pregnancy complications
We’re studying how pregnancy challenges in Hispanic women relate to heart and mental health later in life, to help identify who’s at higher risk and what care they might need.
-
Connecting women with pregnancy high blood pressure to heart-health care after birth
This project looks at how health care systems help or block women who had high blood pressure during pregnancy from getting heart-health care after delivery.
-
Pregnancy outcomes and heart health after pregnancy
Looks at how pregnancy problems like high blood pressure, early delivery, or having a small baby relate to hidden heart and blood vessel changes during and after pregnancy.
-
Heart and metabolic health after pregnancy complications in Puerto Rican women
This project looks at how pregnancy complications and mood during pregnancy relate to heart, diabetes, and mental health years later for Puerto Rican women.
-
Pregnancy complications and future heart and blood vessel health
This project looks at whether pregnancy complications are linked to higher risk of heart and vascular problems later in life for women.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.