Pilot Award Projects


Pilot Award Projects

Forge AHEAD Center: Pilot Award Projects

Forge AHEAD Center is committed to awarding early stage investigators pilot award funds for projects to advance the knowledge of health equity and chronic diseases. By supporting these projects, we are forging a future of informed, diverse researchers who are quick to collaborate and innovate. We look forward to fostering the next generation of investigators.

The following projects have been awarded to Forge AHEAD Scholars through our Pilot & Feasibility Scholars Program. Click here to learn about the funding process.

Funding is available for up to 6 projects per cycle for up to $50,000 each for one year.

Cohort 4

Facilitated Stable Housing as a Strategy for Uptake and Sustainment of Evidence-Based HIV and Cardiometabolic Medicine in People with HIV

Scholar: Donny Gerke
Institution: UAB
State: AL
Disease focus: HIV, Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention

a patient sitting on an examination table in an exam room, with

Laying the Foundation for PrEP in Urgent Care Settings

Scholar: Matt Gravett
Institution: UAB
State: AL
Disease focus: HIV, Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention

Fit young African athlete running alone on a track

Peer MODELS: (Managing a Community-based HIV, Diabetes, and pain intervention that Encourages healthy Living and provides Support), for PWH and T2D in the setting of chronic pain

Scholar: Kristen Allen-Watts
Institution: UAB
State: AL
Disease focus: HIV, Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention

above view of bleeding finger after puncture for free hiv test in african hospital

Enhancing Recruitment and Retention for Black Females with HIV: Identifying Barriers, Facilitators, and the Role of Social Determinants for the Willingness to Participate in the HEALTH Study

Scholar: Rongbing Xie
Institution: UAB
State: AL
Disease focus: HIV, Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention

Cohort 3

Linking GAINS: Linking Genetics and Improving Nutrition in Scotlandville

Scholar: Jennifer Caldwell
Institution: PBRC
State: LA
Disease focus: Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention, Diabetes Prevention

Adaptation and Initial Feasibility of a Primary Care-based Dyadic Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Intervention: “Heart Care Pairs”

Scholar: Kaylee Crockett
Institution: UAB
State: AL
Disease focus: Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention, HTN Control

Post-Emergency Department Discharge Clinic Telehealth Program for Patients with Uncontrolled Hypertension

Scholar: Lama Ghazi
Institution: UAB
State: AL
Disease focus: HTN Control

An integrated cardiometabolic intervention targeting physical and financial health: A pilot study

Scholar: Amber W. Kinsey
Institution: UAB
State: AL
Disease focus: Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention

Cohort 2

Mobile Community Stroke Self-Management Program: A Feasibility Study

Scholar: Mudasir Andrabi
Institution: UA
State: AL
Disease focus: Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention

A feasibility trial of a stakeholder-enhanced, lay-navigator-delivered intervention to improve the decisional partnership of Chronic Kidney Disease dyads

Scholar: Shena Gazaway
Institution: UAB
State: AL
Disease focus: Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention, HTN Control

Sickle Cell FIT: Increasing Physical Activity in Youth with Sickle Cell Disease

Scholar: Cynthia Karlson
Institution: UMMC
State: MS
Disease focus: Obesity Treatment, Diabetes prevention

Preliminary implementation and development of an enjoyable virtual reality exercise program for the prevention of cardiometabolic disease among children with cerebral palsy in school settings

Scholar: Byron Lai
Institution: UAB
State: AL
Disease focus: Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention

TARGETing Healthy Weight Loss in the Context of Food Insecurity Pilot and Feasibility Trial II

Scholar: Candice A. Myers
Institution: PBRC
State: LA
Disease focus: Obesity Treatment

Addressing Cardiometabolic Disease in People Living with HIV: Developing Strategies to Improve Diet and Exercise by Assessing Multi-level Social Determinants of Health

Scholar: Rongbing Xie
Institution: UAB
State: AL
Disease focus: Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention, HIV, Medically Complex Patients

Cohort 1

Cardiometabolic Complications in Women with PCOS: Role of Androgens, Race/Ethnicity, and the Renin-Angiotensin System

Scholar: Licy L. Yanes Cardozo
Institution: UMMC
State: MS
Disease focus: Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention

Social Determinants of Health and their Impact on Establishing Heart Failure Care in a Clinic for the Underserved

Scholar: Stephen Clarkson
Institution: UAB
State: AL
Disease focus: Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention

Tracking Outcomes of Hypertension in Women with Breast Cancer

Scholar: LaQuita Cooper
Institution: UMMC
State: MS
Disease focus: HTN Control, Breast Cancer

African American Stress Intervention Study- Feasibility in Hypertension: (ASIS-Feasibility HTN Cohort)

Scholar: TJ Exford
Institution: NCATSU
State: NC
Disease focus: HTN Control

Teen Mom 2: A Multicomponent Digital Health Intervention to Improve Black Maternal Cardiometabolic Health in Mississippi’s WIC Community

Scholar: Abigail Gamble
Institution: UMMC
State: MS
Disease focus: Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention, HTN Control

Improving patient knowledge of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: patient-centered and community-engaged pilot study

Scholar: Yulia Khodneva
Institution: UAB
State: AL
Disease focus: Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention, Medically Complex Patients

TARGETing Healthy Weight Loss in the Context of Food Insecurity Pilot and Feasibility Trial

Scholar: Candice A. Myers
Institution: PBRC
State: LA
Disease focus: Obesity Treatment

Use of home-delivered meals to manage cardiometabolic health during pregnancy among predominantly Black, low-income women in Alabama

Scholar: Camille Schneider-Worthington
Institution: UAB
State: AL
Disease focus: Obesity Treatment, HTN Control, Diabetes Management

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