Mission:

High blood pressure (hypertension) is extremely common. Uncontrolled blood pressure puts people at increased risk of developing heart disease, brain disease, and kidney disease. Yet only 1 in 4 people have their blood pressure under good control (blood pressure under 130/80 mmHg). Blood pressure control is worse in populations who traditionally face inequities, including the African American and Latinx communities.

Blood pressure control could be improved if we change the way we deliver care. There are increasing calls for home blood pressure monitoring (in addition to office measurements), and remote (virtual) blood pressure teams with nurses and pharmacists to support primary care providers in achieving blood pressure control.  There is also more attention to how social determinants of health impact individuals’ ability to participate in their healthcare journey and gain maximal benefit from therapy. Community health workers can be the needed glue, helping patients access services and reinforcing plans of care.

 The Pressure Check study is designed to address health inequities in hypertension (high blood pressure), providing much needed evidence about how best to control high blood pressure in our communities. This evidence will support policies and infrastructure for how we deliver care. The study is taking place in 4 cities, wherein a partnered health system in each city (Yale New Haven Health, Sentara Health, Houston Methodist, and Massachusetts General/Brigham) is collaborating with 10 community partners to screen for high blood pressure. Our community partners include churches, barbershops, community centers, and other businesses/organizations that have been historically minded around health and wellbeing.

 

Meet the Massachusetts General Brigham Team

  • Dr. Pradeep Natarajan (Co-Principal Investigator)

     Dr. Pradeep Natarajan (MMSc) is the Director of Preventive Cardiology and the Paul and Phyllis Fireman Endowed Chair in Vascular Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Associate Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.

  • Dr. Oyere Onuma (Co-Principal Investigator)

    Onuma (MD, MSc) earned her MD at the Yale School of Medicine. She completed her residency and fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, followed by an M.Sc. from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in 2014. She joined the faculty at MGH and Harvard Medical School in 2023 and is the founding director of the MGH Global Cardiovascular Health Program.

  • Dr. Michael Honigberg (Co-Investigator)

    Dr. Michael Honigberg (MD, MPP, FACC) is a cardiologist-investigator at MGH, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Associate Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

  • Dr. Jocelyn Carter (Co-Investigator)

    Jocelyn Carter (MD, MPH) is an MGH Division of General Internal Medicine (DGIM) physician-scientist and internal medicine hospitalist. As the Director of the MGH Community Care Transitions Initiative, DGIM Director of Research Equity, and a member of the MGH Executive Committee on Research, Dr. Carter is passionate about transformational change via scalable, evidence-based initiatives that leverage technology to drive redesign of patient-centered care.

  • Dr. Whitney Hornsby (Director)

    Dr. Hornsby (PhD) is the Associate Director of the Natarajan Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is leading work on this PCORI award related to site planning and implementation, the development of the technical infrastructure for remote blood pressure monitoring, and overall study coordination. 

  • Dr. Patricia Masson (Research Nurse)

     Dr. Masson (PhD, RN, FAHA) serves as a Nurse Scientist for the Natarajan Lab for Cardiovascular Prevention and is an Associate Scientist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Her research is focused on stroke prevention and hypertension, racism in nursing and theoretical framework modeling for complex healthcare systems. She is an RN with extensive clinical operational experience and will be developing, educating and executing the studies CBO site operations.

  • Ricardo Aguayo (Program Manager)

    Ricardo graduated from Brandeis University with a B.S. in Chemical Biology. Ricardo will oversee all administrative aspects of day-to-day study management, including IRB submission, scheduling of meetings with community-based organizations, tracking participant recruitment, ensuring blood pressure cuffs are delivered to community sites in a timely manner, contacting participants to complete study visits. He will work closely with the site PIs, meeting weekly, to provide project support and overall guidance during implementation.

  • Romario Joseph (Clinical Research Coordinator/CHW II)

    Romario Joseph, is currently pursuing a MHA at Boston College. His career aspirations align closely with the mission of Mass General Hospital's Center for Cardiovascular Prevention, which focuses on improving the health outcomes of underserved populations, particularly in communities facing disparities in cardiovascular health. He is committed to patient-centric projects and promoting wellness among vulnerable communities. Joseph’s expertise lies in conducting needs assessments, facilitating access to care, and advocating for individuals facing socioeconomic barriers in healthcare.

  • Courtney Wilson DeFusco (Nurse Practioner)

    Courtney is currently a Nurse Practitioner in the Cardiology Department of Massachusetts General Hospital. and the Nurse Practitioner who conducts the visits with the enrolled patients in the Pressure Check Study. Courtney also works as an Advanced Heart Failure/ Cardiac Transplant Nurse Practitioner at Massachusetts General Hospital. Prior to working in Advanced Heart Failure, Courtney worked as a NP in the Cardiac and Vascular Intervention group at MGH. Courtney received her Master of Science in Nursing at the University of Massachusetts, Boston and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Partner Organizations