Remote health coaching to help weight and heart/metabolic health in Black adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes
Official title: Improving Weight Loss and Cardiometabolic Risk in Black Primary Care Patients with Obesity and Diabetes
Funded at University of Alabama at Birmingham · NIH-11145061 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Remote health coaching delivered through your clinic's patient portal aims to help Black adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes lose weight and improve heart and metabolic health.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Alabama at Birmingham NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Birmingham, United States) |
| Project start | September 24, 2021 |
| Project end | June 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $739,512 |
| NIH project number | 5P50MD017338-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11145061 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Black adults aged 18–70 with obesity and diagnosed type 2 diabetes who receive primary care at participating clinics and can use the patient portal and video visits.
✕Less likely to help
People without type 2 diabetes or obesity, those outside the 18–70 age range, or those unable or unwilling to use remote technology may not benefit from this program.
What this research studies
If you join, you'll be one of about 352 primary care patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes who are randomly assigned to either a remote health-coach weight loss program or usual care for 24 months. The weight-loss group receives a high-intensity behavioral program from a health coach using video visits and the electronic medical record (EMR) patient portal, with personalized materials and weight-tracking graphs. Care is coordinated with your primary care team and researchers will study clinic and community factors that affect how people use the program. Usual care participants continue routine care from their primary care provider while outcomes like weight and cardiometabolic risk are compared.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could help Black adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes lose weight and lower blood sugar and cardiovascular risk.
How similar studies have gone: Previous behavioral weight-loss programs and remote coaching have helped people with diabetes lose weight, but EMR patient-portal delivery specifically in Black primary care settings is less well established.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Katzmarzyk, Peter Todd — University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Study coordinator: Katzmarzyk, Peter Todd
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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.