Jingchuan (Serena) Guo, MD, PhD

Heart failure (HF) affects more than 6.5 million individuals in the United States. A resurgence in HF mortality in the past decade has particularly affected racial and ethnic minority groups and people experiencing social disadvantages. While new treatments have emerged to reduce HF hospitalizations and mortality, existing data show disparities in use of these novel agents, with individuals from racial-ethnic minority groups and those with lower socioeconomic status receiving suboptimal treatment and care. My research will apply machine-learning approaches to a statewide database of electronic health records and claims data to evaluate the individual and aggregate effects of different social risk factors on HF treatment and clinical outcomes. This research will also yield an aggregated social risk score that can be used for identifying unmet social needs and providing targeted support in patients with heart failure. These findings will
inform the development of interventions and policy programs to address disparities in
HF treatment and outcomes, which will improve health equity for millions of Americans
living with heart failure.