Women's Health Initiative
This is a clinical trial and observational study with primary aims to determine how hormone therapy, diet and calcium/vitamin D affect risk of heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, and to determine the longer term effects of these interventions.
Title: The Women's Health Initiative Regional Field Center Program
Principal Investigator: Jean Wactawski-Wende, PhD
Funding Agency: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
Period: 10/01/10 - 10/14/15
- original WHI study 03/15/93 - 09/14/05
Title: Vanguard Clinical Centers for Clinical Trial and Observational Study of the Women's Health Initiative - East
(known as WHI) - WHI Extension study 09/2005 - 09/30/10
Abstract: The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) is a large multi-center clinical trial and observational study studying the major causes of morbidity and mortality in postmenopausal women. This primary prevention trial and observational study has assessed the role of hormone therapy, diet and calcium/vitamin D supplementation on heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. The WHI is a national study supported by the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Buffalo is one of 40 WHI centers nationally.
The Buffalo center is directed by principal investigators Jean Wactawski-Wende and Maurizio Trevisan. There are three clinical trials:
- Hormone Therapy vs. Placebo (2 trials)
- Diet Modification vs. Usual Diet
- Calcium/Vitamin D Supplementation vs. Placebo
The Buffalo WHI Clinical Center was one of the original vanguard centers for the WHI.
Nationwide, there are more than 162,000 participants enrolled in the WHI. Locally, there are nearly 4,000 participants from western New York.
The primary endpoints of the three WHI clinical trials have been published. Further results from these studies will continue to be published.
