Community Activities in Louisiana

2021 News and Events

In Louisiana, for Louisiana: LSU Fights Rural Health Disparities (April 2021)

Check out the article here!

Pennington Biomedical Hires Community Engagement Coordinators in Assumption & Franklin Parishes (2021)

Community Engagement Coordinators have been named in both Assumption and Franklin Parishes to coordinate the outreach and community engagement components of the study: Erin Theriot, of Napoleonville, in Assumption Parish and Kevin Carroll, of Liddieville, in Franklin Parish.

Both Theriot, a native and lifelong resident and Carroll, a longtime resident of their respective parishes bring to us a vast background of knowledge of the socioeconomic factors and demographics that will assist us immensely in carrying out the objectives of the study. In Assumption, prior to this engagement, Erin served the Assumption Parish Police Jury for over 13 years in a variety of roles including, but not limited to: grant coordination, public relations, social media management, and facility direction. Prior to her service to the local parish government, she served as the Outreach Coordinator for a federal grant specific to statewide education of the implementation of Medicare drug coverage for the Louisiana Rural Health Association. In Franklin Parish, Kevin previously served as Justice of the Peace for Franklin Parish’s 8th District. He was elected twice to that position. He has also served on the Republican State Central Committee, representing the 20^th Representative District, Subdistrict B, and on the Franklin Republican Parish Executive Committee. Carroll earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing Management from Western Governors University and is pursuing a Master’s of Business Administration Degree from the university.

Coordinated by The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, The RURAL (Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal) Cohort Study will be conducted in rural counties/parishes in Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. The study aims to address critical gaps in our knowledge of heart and lung disorders in designated rural areas in the southeastern US. Researchers from LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center and other institutions will recruit 4,600 participants for the study that will help researchers learn what causes the high burden of heart, lung, blood and sleep (HLBS) disorders in designated counties/parishes in the aforementioned states and offer clues to alleviate them. In Louisiana, Assumption and Franklin Parishes have been selected as the parishes where the study will take place.  The scientists will recruit multi-ethnic volunteers from 10 of the most economically disadvantaged rural counties in the Southern Appalachia and Mississippi Delta regions.  Six of the counties are considered high-risk, having the highest age-adjusted mortality rates, while four of the counties are considered lower-risk. In Louisiana, the high-risk area is Franklin, and the lower-risk area is Assumption. Pennington Biomedical will recruit about 700 participants from these two parishes.

Dr. Stephanie Broyles, primary investigator of the Louisiana portion of the study and director of Pennington Biomedical’s Contextual Risk Factors Laboratory stated, “What is really novel here is that we are trying to figure out why some people living in rural areas are more resilient to heart disease while others living in what look to be similar areas, based on demographics and economic challenges, are less healthy.” She feels the study has immense potential for improving the health of rural communities.

Scientists will use a self-contained mobile examination unit, “a research center on wheels,” to conduct a detailed, four-hour baseline exam on participants.  Familial, lifestyle and behavioral factors, along with medical history including risk for heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders (HLBS) will be recorded. Environmental and economic factors will also be studied, and standard and novel risk factors for HLBS disorders will be assayed.  Investigators will use smartphones and wearable activity monitors to help collect the participants’ health and lifestyle information.

Additional Information

Check out the RURAL Study in Louisiana’s Facebook pages for Assumption Parish and Franklin Parish.

To learn more about the participant experience in the RURAL Study, visit the Study Participants webpage.

If you have any questions or comments, please call us at 1-888-RURALST (1- 888-787-2578) or email us at RURALstudy@uab.edu