How and why do we measure blood pressure (BP)? Does it matter? How do we decide if BP is too high (a condition known as hypertension) and whether that is a result of aging, bad luck, or a disease? If it’s a disease, when and how should we treat it? How does hypertension interact with other diseases, and does race or ethnicity increase (or decrease) the risks of high BP? This presentation will provide a brief history of our developing understanding of hypertension’s central role in cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and stroke. In particular, it will include a selective review of the research results which have driven diagnostic and treatment guidelines and public health policies over the past century.
Dr. Jason G. Umans is Director of the Biomarker, Biochemistry and Biorepository Core and of the Field Studies Division at MedStar Health Research Institute. He also serves as Associate Professor of Medicine and of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Georgetown University and directs the training and career development components of the Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science. He is a hypertension specialist, nephrologist, clinical pharmacologist, and translational scientist whose work spans multiple domains, from basic laboratory work to bedside care delivery to community- and population-based research. Over the past 14 years, his primary research focus has been on the staggering disparities in cardiovascular disease and related disorders that affect American Indian and Alaska Native populations nationwide. For Native-CHART, Dr. Umans participates in the Methods Core, where he collaborates with investigators on all three Native-CHART research projects to ensure that their work is both methodologically rigorous and clinically relevant to the provision of cutting-edge hypertension care.
The webinar will be February 25th from 12:30-1:30pm PT. The event is free, but registration is required.