How one doctor’s father inspires her research
When Latha Palaniappan was just 13 years old, her father died of a heart attack at only age 39. That loss has driven her to become one of the world’s leading researchers working to uncover the disparities in heart health when it comes to underrepresented groups, especially Asian Americans. Now an internal medicine doctor and professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford University in California, Dr. Palaniappan
“I am motivated every day by what happened to my father and my family, and I want to make sure that other families don’t experience early heart disease,” Dr. Palaniappan recently shared with the American Heart Associations. I find this is particularly devastating to immigrant and minority families.”
Her frustration is well-rooted: Despite the fact that Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the US and comprise more than 40 ethnicities, health research often lumps these groups together, which masks risks and possible treatment insights. Not only that but funds for Asian Health research sit at an anemic 0.2% of total funding from the National Institutes of Health.
That can leave doctors like her feeling frustrated when it comes to prescribing drugs and treatment options. “I still find myself frustrated as a physician that when I have patients from historically underrepresented groups, all of the data that I use to inform my treatment decisions are on white populations,” she explains. “There are known differences in drug metabolism, outcomes and side effects, and I often feel like I’m flying blind.”
Still, she finds hope in some of the latest cohorts of studies including the OurHealth study, focused on the heart health and genetic information of South Asian adults, and the MOSAAIC study, which will follow 10,000 Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults over time to discover predictors of cardiovascular disease. “No one researcher or institution can solve this problem alone,” she says. “It’s so important that we collaborate to create precision health for the next generation.”
80% of genetic studies are performed in white European populations, even though they represent only 16% of the global population. 25% of the global population is South Asian, but genetic data remains scarce.
