The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC)

is one of the world’s most significant and longest-running heart health studies and is the largest study of heart health in African Americans.

Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), ARIC investigates risk factors for heart disease and stroke, and the connections between cardiovascular and cognitive health.

Click here or explore our site to learn more about our research and key findings on cardiovascular health.

In 1987, nearly 16,000 Participants

aged 45 through 65 joined the ARIC cohort study in four communities: 

  • Washington County, Maryland
  • Forsyth County, North Carolina
  • Jackson, Mississippi
  • Minneapolis, Minnesota

In 2021, approximately 6,000 original Participants, now in their 80s and 90s, are still active in ARIC. They generously give their time for clinical exams every three years, along with regular telephone follow-up.

We could not do any of this without our wonderful Participants, and thank you!

Pulse

A woman reading on a tablet

Read our Spring Newsletter!

Click here for our newest ARIC Participant and Proxy newsletter, where we highlight new discoveries and what’s coming in Visit 11.

An image of a colorized echocardiogram or ECG

Visit 11 is coming in 2024

We have several exciting wearable devices for our Participants to pick from, and echocardiograms are back!

A person wearing a hearing aid

Hearing intervention supports cognitive health, a finding thanks to ARIC

We appreciate our ARIC Participants’ help in the ACHIEVE study, which has also received a lot of media attention. Click here to watch Dr. Frank Lin’s interview with the Today Show on the major findings.

Ad for the Gen2 ARIC study with stethoscope on blue background

Join the next Generation of ARIC!

The purpose of the ARIC Gen2 research study is to evaluate the link between glucose and heart problems in adults with type 2 diabetes. If you are 50 to 80 years of age with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, you are potentially eligible to participate in our study.  

 

More info
Dr. Frank Lin

Dr. Frank Lin interviewed by NPR about the connections between hearing loss and dementia risk

Dr. Frank Lin, Co-Principal Investigator of the ACHIEVE clinical trial, an ancillary study to ARIC, was recently interviewed by NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about hearing loss and dementia, and how greater access to over-the-counter hearing aids may help Americans.

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