Research Projects

Since 2020, the Louisiana Community Engagement Alliance (LA-CEAL) is a National Institutes of Health-funded initiative awarded to the Tulane School of Medicine that aims to "...promote health, improve health outcomes, and strengthen community partnerships through community-engaged research to address differences in access to health care" and improve health outcomes across America (NIH CEAL, 2025). The LA-CEAL team includes key academic partners from Tulane, Xavier, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, and LSU Health and important community-based primary care Federally Qualified Health Centers and community as well as faith-based partners across Louisiana. LA-CEAL is one of the CEAL regional teams funded in 21 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Current LA-CEAL Initiatives:

Collaborative Obesity Intervention Engaging Communities Trial (CONNECT) -- NCT06835686

• With a primary care-community focuse, this trial partners with federally qualified health centers across Louisiana to test  the effectiveness and implementation of an evidence-based, multi-level obesity management program that combines individual participant support (health coaching by community health workers and remote monitoring), community-driven strategies (asset mapping and action projects), and primary care system-level improvements (provider toolkits and lunch and learns tailored to obesity management strategies). This innovative approach aims to reduce obesity, increase quality of life, and build ongoing capacity to improve health for people in rural and urban Louisiana and beyond.

Community-Academic-Public Health-Clinical Practice (CAPP) Learning Academy

• CAPP Academy is expanding the foundational clinical research training initially provided by LA-CEAL and providing intermediate-to-advanced training opportunities for community members and organizations to effectively engage in clinical research and build the infrastructure for ongoing engagement and partnership to foster participation that reflects Louisiana communities.  

Rural Research and Resource Hubs (R3Hubs)

• The R3Hubs have a pivotal role for increasing awareness, access, enrollment in, and community capacity for clinical trials and studies in rural sites across Louisiana. Key leaders of our primary care-focused FQHC partners serve as champions promoting community-engaged research and coordinating hubs for data collection and dissemination of research opportunities and study findings.

This NIH-funded clinical trial is focused on evaluating an innovative strategy to improve medication adherence among patients living with uncontrolled hypertension and with low adherence to prescribed medications.  Because many people with high blood pressure struggle to take their medicines every day as prescribed by their health care provider, they are at increased risk of uncontrolled blood pressure leading to serious health problems. MAP is testing a new program called Supporting Tailored Adaptive Change and Reinforcement for Medication Adherence Program (STAR-MAP), which uses a novel health coaching approach to uncover and overcome hidden barriers to taking medications with the goal to improve medication adherence, lower blood pressure, and improve quality of life.

Cardiometabolic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension, increase the risk for fractures, which is a substantial public health problem in older adults in the United States. This study funded by the National Institutes of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (R01 AR080868) uses adds validated vertebral strength data assessed from biomechanical computed tomography (BCT) to the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study to further our understanding on how cardiometabolic disorders and hallmarks of cardiometabolic disease over the life span impact vertebral strength, a surrogate for vertebral fracture risk.

The study aims are to: 1) Evaluate the association between cardiometabolic disease patterns and vertebral health, 2) Determine the role of cardiometabolic biomarkers on vertebral health, and 3) Identify cardiometabolic health factors that predict 10-year changes in vertebral health.

Content coming soon.