Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) awarded the University of Alabama at Birmingham $745,732 under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837) effective May 1, 2026, through February 28, 2031. This project grant funds the AW-COMPARE study, which compares ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) to wrist-worn home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) devices in assessing end-organ damage related to cardiovascular disease. The research addresses a significant clinical gap by evaluating whether newly developed wrist-worn HBPM devices can effectively measure both awake and sleep blood pressure while causing less patient discomfort and sleep disruption than traditional ABPM. The study will generate clinical evidence determining whether sleep and awake systolic blood pressure measurements obtained via wrist-worn HBPM devices have sufficiently strong associations with end-organ damage to potentially replace ABPM as the reference standard for out-of-office blood pressure assessment.

This research directly supports NHLBI's mission to advance the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease through clinical investigation and improved diagnostic methodologies. By establishing the diagnostic and prognostic validity of wrist-worn HBPM devices, the study aims to overcome barriers to current ABPM utilization, including patient discomfort, clinical availability limitations, and cost considerations, thereby improving hypertension management and cardiovascular disease prevention across diverse patient populations.