How childhood stress affects teen blood pressure and blood vessels
Early Life Stress-induced Reprogramming of Ambulatory Blood Pressure and Vascular Function in Adolescence
This project checks whether stress in childhood changes blood pressure and blood vessel health in teenagers.
Quick facts
| Grant type | P01 program project |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Alabama at Birmingham NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Birmingham, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11262263 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you join, you'll wear a small ambulatory blood pressure monitor, have blood drawn for inflammation and DNA methylation tests, and get noninvasive measures of artery stiffness. Researchers will compare these measures in adolescents who experienced early life stress versus those who did not. The team will also use animal models to link the human findings to underlying biological mechanisms. The aim is to identify early signs and pathways that could point to ways to prevent heart disease later on.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are adolescents (roughly ages 12–20) who have a history of childhood adversity or early life stress and can attend clinic visits at the study site.
Not a fit: People without a history of childhood stress or adults outside the adolescent age range are unlikely to receive direct benefit from participating in this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal early warning signs and molecular targets to help prevent or reduce future cardiovascular disease in people exposed to childhood stress.
How similar studies have performed: Prior animal experiments and adult human studies have linked early life stress to higher blood pressure and stiffer arteries, and early data in adolescents support these findings, so this work builds on existing evidence.
Where this research is happening
Birmingham, United States
- University of Alabama at Birmingham — Birmingham, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Seifert, Michael Edward — University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Study coordinator: Seifert, Michael Edward
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 below.