LaPrincess C. Brewer, M.D., M.P.H.

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SUMMARY

LaPrincess C. Brewer, M.D., M.P.H., has a primary research focus in developing strategies to reduce and ultimately eliminate cardiovascular disease health disparities in racial and ethnic minority populations and in underserved communities through health promotion and community-based participatory research. Dr. Brewer also has special interest in increasing minority and women's participation in cardiovascular clinical trials through mobile health (mHealth) interventions. Additionally, she has published work on faith-based interventions for cardiovascular disease prevention, racial differences in weight maintenance and psychosocial factors influencing cardiovascular risk factors.

Focus areas

• Community-based participatory research. In collaboration with several community partners in the Rochester, Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, areas, Dr. Brewer has developed a cardiovascular health and wellness program within African American churches focused on healthy lifestyle behavior change to achieve ideal cardiovascular health. She is investigating the influence of self-efficacy, social support and self-regulation on behavior change.
• mHealth lifestyle interventions. Dr. Brewer is currently developing and testing the feasibility and acceptability of a culturally appropriate, risk-based digital application intervention targeting multiple cardiovascular risk factors among African Americans. She also developed a patient-centric, virtual world technology-delivered cardiac rehabilitation program as an alternative to standard programs with the goal of increasing access for ethnic minorities, women, rural residents, the elderly and the economically disadvantaged.
• Social determinants of health. Dr. Brewer studies the role of psychosocial influences on cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular health. These psychosocial influences are inclusive of racial identity, stress, income inequality, religion or spirituality, and sociocultural pressures.
• Women's health. Several of Dr. Brewer's research studies have prioritized the inclusion of women, particularly African American women, within lifestyle interventions given their disproportionately high risk for cardiovascular disease.

Significance to patient care

Dr. Brewer hopes that her research and behavioral interventions will help narrow the gap in exemplary cardiovascular health outcomes among underserved groups. She also seeks to better elucidate the social determinants of cardiovascular health and how they contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in cardiovascular disease. Ultimately, her comprehensive health promotion modalities and education tools can serve as a model for clinicians and public health practitioners to more effectively provide relevant health information to racial and ethnic minorities and women with the goal of achieving healthy lifestyle change.

Professional highlights

• Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials Career Development Award, Bristol Meyers Squibb Foundation, 2022-2024.
• History Maker at Home Award, City of Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights, 2020.
• Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program Scholar Award, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, American Heart Association, 2019.
• Inaugural class member, Rising Stars, National Institutes of Health, 2019.
• Young Investigator Award, American Society for Preventive Cardiology Congress on CVD Prevention, 2019.
• KL2 Mentored Career Development Program, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, 2017.
• Research scholar, Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health, National Institutes of Health, Office of Research on Women's Health, 2016.