Studying the Effects of Heart-Healthy Meals
TouroCOM's Dr. Kamilah Ali Receives $400,000 Grant from American Heart Association to Monitor Blood Pressure and Glycemic Levels of Meal Recipients
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Professor Kamilah Ali, Ph.D., had a lightbulb moment that translated into a $400,000 grant from the American Heart Association (AHA). Her idea: a real-world study to help people in New York City who suffer from heart disease and other medical conditions. Dr. Ali, an associate professor and research scientist at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (TouroCOM), where she also serves as director of community affairs, is joined in the study with faculty from Columbia and Temple Universities. A crucial player to the team’s work is God’s Love We Deliver, an organization that provides healthy meals to the participants. The nonprofit began in 1986 at the height of the AIDS epidemic and continues today, cooking and delivering nutritious, medically-tailored meals for people too sick to shop or cook for themselves. Every three months, blood pressure and glycemic levels are tested for participants who suffer from hypertension and diabetes.
“We’ll see if our intervention with heart-healthy meals and education improves eating behaviors and slows the course of their diseases,” says Dr. Ali, who teaches the pharmacology course to future doctors at TouroCOM and involves students in all of her research projects.
Like most scientists, Dr. Ali is patient and pragmatic. She understands that changing eating habits of a lifetime is an onerous ask. “You have to sustain it,” she says. “If you’re used to eating a lot of salt or sugar, not having it may make everything bland and tasteless in comparison. So, we have an educational component based on AHA life essentials for heart-healthy lifestyles with cooking classes and demonstrations, and we offer a goody bag that includes safe salt alternatives and cooking utensils.”
Almost from the moment she arrived at Touro in 2016, Dr. Ali expanded outreach to the Harlem community and surrounding neighborhoods. She increased the number of health fairs so the community can be informed about their health with blood tests, dental checkups, heart monitoring, and many other health services to which they otherwise would not have access or be routinely checked. In fact, Dr. Ali recruited people from the events for the current study. “The goal is to stop, or even reverse, the effects of their chronic health issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol, so they will feel better and enjoy a better quality of life.”
