CLIP provided me with innovative skills on new methods to achieve lifestyle changes in adults and children. For this endeavour, I very actively participated in a study focused on CV disease prevention at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) in New York, led by Dr Valentin Fuster (supervisor during the outgoing phase). This study had the necessary infrastructure in place to develop the research and training activities proposed in CLIP. The work performed from the beginning of the project and main results achieved so far were are as follows:
AIM 1: Training in novel strategies for lifestyle modification and CV disease prevention.
Taking advantage of the unique setting and the interaction with team members in charge of the design, randomization and statistical management of the trial conducted in New York, I was able to accomplish the following tasks: (i) promote the study at schools, and actively recruit participants for the study; (ii) perform participant assessments; (iii) apply original tools to induce positive behavioural changes; (iv) provide health counselling to participants; (v) participate in events at schools sharing my expertise with parents on health topics; (vi) trial database management; (vii) statistical analysis; (viii) presentation of results at international scientific conferences; (ix) draft and publication of manuscripts; (x) complete training courses as described in the CLIP proposal.
AIM 2: Generation of a computational network model of the genomic/molecular signature of favourable vs poor responders to lifestyle intervention.
The genomic influences on the outcome of behavioural modifications have not been studied in relation to CV disease. As a major innovation, the trial in New York included RNA-sequencing of lipid-loaded macrophages, which are a hallmark of atherosclerosis. These cells were isolated before and after the intervention from a subsample of adults participating in the global lifestyle program outlined above to identify novel genetic markers of subclinical atherosclerotic disease. I was trained in a multidisciplinary environment and learned how to apply computational network models to test the association of genomic and phenotypic data collected at baseline and after intervention. All these activities offered comprehensive training in applied genomics, and strengthened my multidisciplinary skills and contact networks for successful implementation of this novel methodology on my return to Europe.
AIM 3: Implementation of learned skills at the host institution through the implementation of a lifestyle modification and genomic pilot study on Spanish adults.
During the last year of the project, I transferred the new methodology to Europe by carrying out a pilot lifestyle modification study program in Spain. To this purpose, I studied pre- and post-intervention blood samples of adult participants who were randomly assigned to receive a novel intervention for health promotion or traditional counselling on cardiovascular risk factors. The incoming phase was enriched by an active collaboration with clinical scientists from industrial partners and my involvement in health promotion trials targeting adolescents and using activity-monitoring devices to track physical activity and sleep patterns.
