The American Heart Association recognized researchers from Washington State University, the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, and the Chickasaw Nation with its inaugural Most Impactful Food Is Medicine Research Award, part of the Health Care by Food program.
The award honors the year’s most meritorious scientific study exploring effective ways to integrate healthy food into clinical care to address the growing prevalence and cost of cardiovascular disease and other diet‑related chronic diseases, according to the association.
The leading heart health organization selected “Pilot study of a heart‑healthy food box intervention for Native Americans with uncontrolled hypertension: Methods and results from the Chickasaw Healthy Eating Environments Research Study” to receive the inaugural award.
Lead by the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, the research team also included researchers from the Institute for Research and Education to Advance Community Health (IREACH) at the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.