CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT07833384LINKING GAINSUpdated Sep 24, 2026

The Effect of Providing Genetic Risk Information on Lifestyle Behaviors in African Americans

An Early Phase 1 interventional study of Color Genomics Genetic Testing Panels in Diabetes, Hypercholesterolaemia and Hypertension, sponsored by Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-24.

Sponsored by Pennington Biomedical Research Center · Early Phase 1, Interventional, and Health services research

Phase
Early Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
60
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major and persistent health disparity for African Americans. Linking GAINS is a randomized pilot and feasibility study designed to evaluate whether receiving genetic risk information early in a community-based CVD risk reduction intervention improves engagement and health behavior change. Sixty African American adults from the Baton Rouge metropolitan area will be recruited and randomized to a Genetically Unblinded (GU) group or a Genetically Blinded (GB) group. All participants will complete a 14-session behavioral intervention delivered over approximately 16 weeks, including culturally responsive education, nutrition and cooking sessions, physical activity training, group support, and community-based health resources. The GU group will receive genetic results and genetic counseling early in the intervention, while the GB group will receive genetic results and counseling after the behavioral intervention and end-of-study assessment. The primary endpoint is intervention engagement measured by attendance. Secondary outcomes include physical activity, dietary intake, body mass index, blood pressure, genomic orientation/knowledge, and perceived racism. Exploratory/moderator analyses will examine whether social determinants of health, including income, food insecurity, health literacy, occupational prestige, and experiences of racism, influence intervention engagement and behavior change.

02

Conditions studied

  • Diabetes
  • Hypercholesterolaemia
  • Hypertension
  • Obesity Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
  • Obesity & Overweight
  • Heart Failure
  • CAD - Coronary Artery Disease
  • Stroke Risk
  • Cardiac Arrythmias
  • Genetics Hypertension
  • Genetics
  • Pharmacogenomics
  • Pharmacogenomic Testing for Medication Management
  • Cancer Genetics
03

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • Age 18 years or older.
  • Self-identification as African American.
  • Willing to complete genetic testing using a saliva DNA collection kit.
  • Willing to participate in a CVD risk reduction behavioral intervention lasting approximately 16 weeks.
  • Able and willing to provide informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Cannot safely engage in physical activity.
  • Has current knowledge of genetic contributions to CVD that would compromise the study comparison.
  • Pregnant at the time of eligibility assessment, because the study observes body weight and physiologic outcomes without pregnancy as a confounder.
04

Study design

Phase
Early Phase 1
Primary purpose
Health services research
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Participant)
Enrollment
60 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Genetically Unblinded

    Genetically unblinded participants received their genetic test results from Color Genomics: Cancer, CVD, and Pharmacogenomics panels before starting the health behavior intervention. In addition, they received a 1:1 genetic counseling session prior to the health behavior intervention completion.

    Genetic: Color Genomics Genetic Testing Panels

  • Experimental
    Genetically Blinded

    Genetically blinded participants received their genetic test results from Color Genomics: Cancer, CVD, and Pharmacogenomics panels. In addition, they received a 1:1 genetic counseling session after the health behavior intervention was completed.

    Genetic: Color Genomics Genetic Testing Panels

Interventions

  • GeneticColor Genomics Genetic Testing Panels

    Participants gave a saliva sample to Color Genomics for an Ancestry, Hereditary Cancer, CVD, and Pharmacogenomics testing panel. Participants were able to get visuals of their results using their website and also discuss findings via zoom or phone call.

05

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Total number of participants that completed health behavior interventions.

    Measured by total health behavior sessions attended between groups.

    Time frame: 14-weeks

06

Study locations

1 site
  • Pennington Biomedical Research Center
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70808, United States
07

References and documents

Publications

  • Marteau TM, Lerman C. Genetic risk and behavioural change. BMJ. 2001 Apr 28;322(7293):1056-9. doi: 10.1136/bmj.322.7293.1056. No abstract available. PubMed 11325776 ↗
  • Horne J, Madill J, Gilliland J. Incorporating the 'Theory of Planned Behavior' into personalized healthcare behavior change research: a call to action. Per Med. 2017 Nov;14(6):521-529. doi: 10.2217/pme-2017-0038. Epub 2017 Nov 24. PubMed 29749859 ↗
  • Horrow C, Pacyna JE, Lee MK, Sharp RR. Measuring Attitudes About Genomic Medicine: Validation of the Genomic Orientation Scale (GO Scale). Value Health. 2021 Jul;24(7):1030-1037. doi: 10.1016/j.jval.2021.02.001. Epub 2021 Apr 2. PubMed 34243827 ↗
  • McNeilly MD, Anderson NB, Armstead CA, Clark R, Corbett M, Robinson EL, Pieper CF, Lepisto EM. The perceived racism scale: a multidimensional assessment of the experience of white racism among African Americans. Ethn Dis. 1996 Winter-Spring;6(1-2):154-66. PubMed 8882844 ↗
  • Caldwell J, Jackson FLC. Evolutionary perspectives on African North American genetic diversity: Origins and prospects for future investigations. Evol Anthropol. 2021 Jul;30(4):242-252. doi: 10.1002/evan.21910. Epub 2021 Aug 13. PubMed 34388300 ↗
  • Sheppard VB, Sutton AL, Hurtado-De-Mendoza A, Tariq F, Perera RA, Quillin J, Jeudy M, Gomez-Trillos S, Schwartz MD. Addressing disparities in the uptake of genetic counseling and testing in African American women; rationale, design and methods. Contemp Clin Trials. 2023 Jul;130:107210. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2023.107210. Epub 2023 May 2. PubMed 37142159 ↗
  • Lima SM, Nazareth M, Schmitt KM, Reyes A, Fleck E, Schwartz GK, Terry MB, Hillyer GC. Interest in genetic testing and risk-reducing behavioral changes: results from a community health assessment in New York City. J Community Genet. 2022 Dec;13(6):605-617. doi: 10.1007/s12687-022-00610-2. Epub 2022 Oct 13. PubMed 36227532 ↗
  • Chirinos DA, Vargas E, Kamsickas L, Carnethon M. The role of behavioral science in addressing cardiovascular health disparities: A narrative review of efforts, challenges, and future directions. Health Psychol. 2022 Oct;41(10):740-754. doi: 10.1037/hea0001191. Epub 2022 Jul 18. PubMed 35849358 ↗
  • Wyatt SB, Williams DR, Calvin R, Henderson FC, Walker ER, Winters K. Racism and cardiovascular disease in African Americans. Am J Med Sci. 2003 Jun;325(6):315-31. doi: 10.1097/00000441-200306000-00003. PubMed 12811228 ↗
  • Keaton JM, Cooke Bailey JN, Palmer ND, Freedman BI, Langefeld CD, Ng MC, Bowden DW. A comparison of type 2 diabetes risk allele load between African Americans and European Americans. Hum Genet. 2014 Dec;133(12):1487-95. doi: 10.1007/s00439-014-1486-5. Epub 2014 Oct 2. PubMed 25273842 ↗
  • Thornton RL, Glover CM, Cene CW, Glik DC, Henderson JA, Williams DR. Evaluating Strategies For Reducing Health Disparities By Addressing The Social Determinants Of Health. Health Aff (Millwood). 2016 Aug 1;35(8):1416-23. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2015.1357. PubMed 27503966 ↗
  • Turner-McGrievy GM, Wilcox S, Frongillo EA, Murphy EA, Hutto B, Wilson M, Davey M, Bernhart JA, Okpara N, Bailey S, Hu E. Effect of a Plant-Based vs Omnivorous Soul Food Diet on Weight and Lipid Levels Among African American Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Jan 3;6(1):e2250626. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.50626. PubMed 36633848 ↗
  • Newton RL Jr, Carter LA, Johnson W, Zhang D, Larrivee S, Kennedy BM, Harris M, Hsia DS. A Church-Based Weight Loss Intervention in African American Adults using Text Messages (LEAN Study): Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial. J Med Internet Res. 2018 Aug 24;20(8):e256. doi: 10.2196/jmir.9816. PubMed 30143478 ↗
  • Albert MA, Carnethon MR, Watson KE. Disparities in Cardiovascular Medicine. Circulation. 2021 Jun 15;143(24):2319-2320. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.055565. Epub 2021 Jun 14. No abstract available. PubMed 34125568 ↗
  • Zilbermint M, Hannah-Shmouni F, Stratakis CA. Genetics of Hypertension in African Americans and Others of African Descent. Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Mar 2;20(5):1081. doi: 10.3390/ijms20051081. PubMed 30832344 ↗
  • Carnethon MR, Pu J, Howard G, Albert MA, Anderson CAM, Bertoni AG, Mujahid MS, Palaniappan L, Taylor HA Jr, Willis M, Yancy CW; American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention; Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young; Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing; Council on Clinical Cardiology; Council on Functional Genomics and Translational Biology; and Stroke Council. Cardiovascular Health in African Americans: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2017 Nov 21;136(21):e393-e423. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000534. Epub 2017 Oct 23. PubMed 29061565 ↗

Study documents

  • Study protocol · Apr 27, 2026

Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes — De-identified individual participant data (IPD) underlying the primary and secondary analyses reported in publications arising from the Linking GAINS study will be made available. Shared data may include participant demographic characteristics, intervention assignment, attendance and retention measures, genomic knowledge assessments, behavioral outcomes, clinical measures (e.g., blood pressure, body mass index), and de-identified genomic result classifications (e.g., positive/negative clinical findings). Personally identifiable information, dates, direct identifiers, genetic sequence data, and other information that could reasonably identify participants will not be shared.

Supporting information: Study protocol, Sap, Icf, Analytic code

08

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07833384
Lead sponsor
Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Collaborators
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
Responsible party
Jennifer Caldwell (Assistant Professor, Pennington Biomedical Research Center) — Principal investigator
First posted
Sep 22, 2026
Start date
Sep 22, 2025
Primary completion
Mar 26, 2026
Completion
Mar 26, 2026
Last update
Sep 24, 2026

Study contacts

Jennifer L. Caldwell, PhD, MPH, MS
principal investigator · Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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