Vascular Health

Interventions Lab

Sheila G. West, Ph.D., Director
Associate Professor of Biobehavioral Health
Pennsylvania State University

Our Research Mission:

The mission of the Vascular Health Interventions Lab is to examine the effects of diet and psychological stress on dynamic measures of vascular function. Many of our projects are funded by the nutraceutical industry or by food commodity groups. Through participation in data collection, students and postdocs receive extensive training in managing clinical trials, ethical handling of data from human subjects, and statistics.

Dysfunction of the cells lining the blood vessels (the vascular endothelium) is considered an important initial step in the development of atherosclerosis, and endothelial function is impaired in individuals with cardiovascular disease. Ongoing research in the lab examines the effects of nuts, fatty acids, calcium and other dietary factors on the biochemical and physiological function of the vascular endothelium. In many of our studies, we measure the effects of short-term dietary interventions on flow-mediated dilation (FMD) of the brachial artery (an index of endothelial health) and total peripheral resistance responses to behavioral stressors. Current research evaluates the relationships between vascular physiology (vascular reactivity and endothelial health), oxidation, inflammation, and chronic degenerative disease (CVD and diabetes).

The ultimate goal is to allow new interventions to be tested for their effects on multiple coronary risk markers simultaneously, in order to aid in the design of new functional foods and dietary strategies for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease.

Our laboratory includes: 1) a high frequency clinical ultrasound testing suite, 2) two patient testing rooms with complete sets of cardiovascular recording equipment (including Minnesota and Hutcheson impedance cardiographs with EKG, Dinamap blood pressure monitors, and customized software for estimating stroke volume, cardiac output, and other parameters heart activity), 3) microcentrifuge and ultralow temperature freezers for sample processing, and 4) computers for data entry and analysis.  

We conduct many of our studies at the General Clinical Research Center, an NIH funded clinical research site.  We have an identical set of cardiovascular recording equipment at our GCRC testing site.  Many of our studies are also done in collaboration with Dr. Penny Kris-Etherton director of the Metabolic Diet Study Center.

This publication is available in alternative media on request.
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VHIL