Social Drivers of Chronic Diseases: the Case of Heart Health in Armenia

About the Event:

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is heightened awareness of health disparities and their social drivers globally. This awareness is especially relevant to chronic diseases, which account for over 70% of deaths worldwide each year. In Armenia, chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease account for 93% of all deaths. A primary way of decreasing the burden of chronic disease is by reducing risk factors like stress, tobacco use, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity. This presentation will discuss the social determinants of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors, as well as provide opportunities for attendees to engage a panel of experts in an interactive discussion.

The event will salute the Word Heart Day celebrated annually on September 29 to spread awareness of cardiovascular disease worldwide. Our quality discussion of cardiovascular disease prevention and control will help the audience discover means to promote their heart health.

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About the Speaker

Dr. Carla J. Berg, is a professor and associate chair for research in the Department of Prevention and Community Health within George Washington University‘s Milken Institute School of Public Health and associate center director for Population Sciences and Policy at George Washington University Cancer Center. Her research focuses on multilevel determinants of health behavior. In particular, her research examines tobacco and marijuana use in the context of related policies and marketing influences; policy adoption, implementation and evaluation; and developing and testing scalable behavioral interventions to reduce chronic disease risk and burden.

About the Panelists

Dr. Nour Alayan is an associate professor and the inaugural chair of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at the Turpanjian College of Health Sciences at the American University of Armenia (AUA). She is an experienced nurse clinician, researcher, and educator with a focus on health behavior change and the use of complementary and bio-behavioral approaches that support mental health and well-being. Dr. Alayan completed her Ph.D. in Nursing at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (2017) and her M.S. in Nursing (2008) and B.S. in Nursing (2004) at the American University of Beirut. Dr. Alayan’s research work has two arms: (1) clinical research that is based on mind-body science and investigates bio-behavioral treatment, such as heart rate variability biofeedback, and (2) health promotion and primary care research that investigates evidence-based interventions, such as Motivational Interviewing and Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT). Dr. Alayan is also a Stop Smoking Practitioner and a behavioral health specialist. She uses holistic interventions such as Motivational Interviewing, hypnosis, biofeedback, and emotional freedom techniques to support mental health and well-being.

Kristine Poghosyan received her medical degree in 2004 at Yerevan State Medical University (YSMU). In 2007, she completed her Adult Cardiology Residency at Malatia Hospital, YSMU. After residency, she continued her education and clinical work at Nork Marash Medical Center (NMMC) in the Adult Cardiology Fellowship Program (2007-2009) and Intensive Cardiology Fellowship Program (2009-2011). In 2018, she received her Master of Public Health degree from AUA. She received a merit-based scholarship from AUA and won the competition of “Best Student among Masters’ in the sphere of Medicine,” MOES. Dr. Poghosyan published her MPH thesis project “External Validation of Leipzig-Halifax Scores for Aortic Dissection in Armenia” with her advisors Lusine Abrahamyan, Michael E. Thompson, and Yeva Sahakyan in the peer-reviewed journal Asian Cardiovascular and Thoracic Annals in 2020. Since 2011, she has worked as a cardiologist in the department of Adult Cardiology at NMMC. Currently, she is a fellow in the Avetis Health Informatics Program and interested in the development and improvement of electronic health in Armenia.