USF Health was one of multiple sites across the country participating in a large-scale study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to determine if using multiple targeted medications to reduce the systolic blood pressure in certain patients to less than 120 mmHg would be beneficial. The study, titled The Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT), was scheduled to take place over a five year period, but was halted in its fourth year when it became clear patients did indeed benefit from a lower target mmHg.

The USF Health team, headed by USF site Principal Investigator Dr. Ramon Lopez Del valle from the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, studied 54 of the 9,361 participants. The USF team earned honorary awards for their performance and compliance in the study.Read more about this study here.