Dr. Alka Kanaya launched the MASALA Study, the first major National Institutes of Health-funded longitudinal study of South Asian Americans, to investigate the population’s elevated risk of cardiovascular disease. Its findings transformed understanding of metabolic and heart health among South Asians and informed U.S. clinical guidance on screening, body mass index thresholds, and preventive care. By generating long-term evidence specific to an underserved population, MASALA helped ensure that American medicine increasingly reflected the unique health risks and physiology of South Asian Americans.
