Focused on Rural Communities in the South

The Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal (RURAL) Cohort Study is a new six-year research project seeking to identify why some people in the rural south may live shorter and less healthy lives.

Focusing on 10 rural counties in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi, the research team will examine about 4,600 residents to study different aspects of their heart, lung, and general health.

Participants will receive results from their research examination. County specific results will be also shared with community organizations.

The RURAL Cohort Study team is led by a group of researchers from 16 different U.S. institutions. Their fields include public health, epidemiology and data sciences, sampling and survey methodology, social and environmental sciences, rural health, anthropology, genomics and computational biology, mobile health, digital health, and community-engaged research. They will work together to study the factors impacting the health of rural Americans.

We aim to understand health concerns of the rural communities, with a focus on heart and lung health. The RURAL Cohort Study will bridge the rural research gap by concentrating on communities and geographic areas not adequately studied previously. It will include people who live in rural areas by bringing the research center to their local towns. Our goal is for the research results to help guide future programs to improve the health of these communities.

The community is the most important aspect of the RURAL Cohort Study. We will work with community members and community organizations in the rural counties to ensure their health concerns are identified. The RURAL Cohort Study team will hold local events and meetings to listen to the communities’ feedback throughout the study period.

The team from 16 different universities consists of cores that focus on different aspects of the RURAL Cohort Study. The study is led by the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio’s Vasan Ramachandran, M.D. and University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Suzanne Judd, Ph.D. You can see a full list of all the universities and cores here.

The visit in the Mobile Examination Unit (MEU) will take about 3.5 hours and will include:

• Vital signs including height and weight
• Blood draw
• Interviews and surveys asking about lifestyle and health history
• Tests related to heart, lung, and blood vessel health

Learn more about our MEU by watching the video below:

The RURAL Cohort Study is funded by The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which provides global leadership in research, training, and education to prevent and treat heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders.

Please email rural@uthscsa.edu if you have any questions or concerns.