Scholars@Duke
Leanna Ross

Leanna Ross

Assistant Professor in Medicine
Medicine, Cardiology
leanna.ross@duke.edu
3475 Erwin Road, Aesthetics Bldg., Rm 281, Durham, NC 27705

Selected Publications

Biomarkers of Insulin Resistance and Their Performance as Predictors of Treatment Response in Overweight Adults.

Journal Article J Clin Endocrinol Metab · December 18, 2025 CONTEXT: Insulin resistance (IR) contributes to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus and is a risk factor for cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Amino acid and lipid metabolomic biomarkers associate with future type 2 diabetes mellitus ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

From Intention to Maintenance: A Two-Year Examination of Clinical and Lifestyle Changes in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Journal Article ACR Open Rheumatol · December 2025 OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term impacts of a 16-week remotely supervised exercise and weight loss intervention for rheumatoid arthritis (Supervised Weight Loss and Exercise Training in Rheumatoid Arthritis [SWET-RA]). METHODS: In total, 21 older adult ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Effects of amount, intensity, and mode of exercise training on the metabolic syndrome: A narrative review.

Journal Article Sports Med Health Sci · September 2025 PURPOSE: The purpose of this narrative review is to: 1) summarize findings from the three Studies of a Targeted Risk Reduction Intervention through Defined Exercise (STRRIDE) randomized trials regarding the differential effects of exercise amount, intensit ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

The impact of lifestyle modification on metabolic pathways in older adults with overweight/obesity and rheumatoid arthritis: a secondary exploratory analysis of the SWET-RA study.

Journal Article BMC Rheumatol · June 9, 2025 BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with increased cardiometabolic risk due to inflammation and traditional risk factors, both of which can be mitigated by lifestyle modifications. This study examines metabolic pathways influenced by lifest ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Cumulative effects of training at different weekly energy expenditures on cardiorespiratory fitness and markers of metabolic syndrome in STRRIDE-Extension.

Journal Article J Appl Physiol (1985) · June 1, 2025 Assess the cumulative effects of different weekly exercise energy expenditures, with similar total program volume and intensity, on cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and metabolic syndrome (MetS). Following the 9-mo Studies of a Targeted Risk Reduction Inter ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Sex-specific skeletal muscle gene expression responses to exercise reveal novel direct mediators of insulin sensitivity change.

Journal Article NAR Mol Med · April 2025 Understanding how exercise improves whole-body insulin sensitivity (Si) involves complex molecular signaling. This study examines skeletal muscle gene expression changes related to Si, considering sex differences, exercise amount, and intensity to identify ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Barriers and Predictors of Long-Term Physical Activity Maintenance: The STRRIDE I Reunion Cohort.

Journal Article Transl J Am Coll Sports Med · 2025 INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to identify barriers and predictors of self-reported physical activity (PA) maintenance 10 yr following the Studies of a Targeted Risk Reduction Intervention through Defined Exercise (STRRIDE I) randomized trial among young o ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Abstract 4141701: Legacy Effects of Supervised Exercise Training on Body Composition and Cardiorespiratory Fitness in STRRIDE-Prediabetes

Journal Article Circulation · November 12, 2024 Background: While exercise training elicits substantial health benefits, too few individuals adopt exercise as a health maintenance strategy. Thus, determining if a relatively modest duration of exerc ... Full text Cite

Predicting physical activity by the personality styles of the five-factor model.

Journal Article Health Psychol · October 2024 OBJECTIVE: Low neuroticism, high extraversion, and high conscientiousness are related to physical activity (PA). We tested whether the small size and heterogeneity of these relationships result because personality traits influence one another as well as be ... Full text Link to item Cite

Sex-Specific Skeletal Muscle Gene Expression Responses to Exercise Reveal Novel Direct Mediators of Insulin Sensitivity Change.

Journal Article medRxiv · September 8, 2024 BACKGROUND: Understanding the causal pathways, systems, and mechanisms through which exercise impacts human health is complex. This study explores molecular signaling related to whole-body insulin sensitivity (Si) by examining changes in skeletal muscle ge ... Full text Link to item Cite

Abstract P212: Adherence Trends to a Remotely Supervised Weight Loss and Exercise Training Intervention to Improve Rheumatoid Arthritis Cardiovascular Risk

Journal Article Circulation · March 19, 2024 Introduction: Individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have an increased risk for cardiometabolic disease. By improving traditional markers of cardiometabolic health, interventions that induce weigh ... Full text Cite

A Detailed Analysis of Cardiac Rehabilitation on 180-Day All-Cause Hospital Readmission and Mortality.

Journal Article J Cardiopulm Rehabil Prev · March 1, 2024 PURPOSE: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is endorsed for coronary artery disease (CAD), but studies report inconsistent findings regarding efficacy. The objective of this study was to determine whether confounding factors, potentially contributing to these het ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Effect of Remotely Supervised Weight Loss and Exercise Training Versus Lifestyle Counseling on Cardiovascular Risk and Clinical Outcomes in Older Adults With Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Journal Article ACR Open Rheumatol · March 2024 OBJECTIVE: To compare a remotely supervised weight loss and exercise intervention to lifestyle counseling for effects on cardiovascular disease risk, disease activity, and patient-reported outcomes in older patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and overw ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Larry's Legacy: From Ohio to Chronic Disease Expert

Journal Article ACSM S Health and Fitness Journal · March 1, 2024 Full text Cite

Abstract 17793: Remotely Delivered Weight Loss and Exercise Intervention to Improve Cardiovascular Risk in Older Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis

Journal Article Circulation · November 7, 2023 Background: Persons with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) face two-fold increases in CVD, due to traditional risk factors - e.g., hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity, and physical inactivity - and RA systemi ... Full text Cite

Abstract 17211: Barriers and Predictors of Physical Activity Maintenance: The STRRIDE I Reunion Cohort

Journal Article Circulation · November 7, 2023 Introduction: STRRIDE I (Studies of Targeting Risk Reduction Interventions through Defined Exercise) was an 8-month exercise intervention conducted from 1998-2003. Participants were randomized to an i ... Full text Cite

Remotely Supervised Weight Loss and Exercise Training to Improve Rheumatoid Arthritis Cardiovascular Risk: Rationale and Design of the Supervised Weight Loss Plus Exercise Training-Rheumatoid Arthritis Trial.

Journal Article ACR Open Rheumatol · May 2023 Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remain at an increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality. RA CVD results from a combination of traditional risk factors and RA-related systemic inflammation. One hypothetical means of improving over ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Abstract P358: Racial Differences in Determinants and Timing of Dropout From an Exercise Intervention: The STRRIDE Trials

Conference Circulation · February 28, 2023 Introduction: Most adults recognize the positive health benefits of being physically active and maintaining a healthy weight, yet inactivity and obesity rates continue to rise. This disconnect is even ... Full text Cite

Abstract P442: An Innovative, Remotely Delivered Weight Loss and Exercise Intervention to Improve Rheumatoid Arthritis Cardiovascular Risk

Journal Article Circulation · February 28, 2023 Introduction: Despite improvements in pharmacologic management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), patients with RA continue to have an increased risk for CVD - the leading cause of death in this population ... Full text Cite

Demographic, Clinical, and Psychosocial Predictors of Exercise Adherence: The STRRIDE Trials.

Journal Article Transl J Am Coll Sports Med · 2023 PURPOSE: To identify baseline demographic, clinical, and psychosocial predictors of exercise intervention adherence in the Studies of a Targeted Risk Reduction Intervention through Defined Exercise (STRRIDE) trials. METHODS: A total of 947 adults with dysl ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Race and sex differences in dropout from the STRRIDE trials.

Journal Article Front Sports Act Living · 2023 PURPOSE: To determine if race and sex differences exist in determinants and timing of dropout among individuals enrolled in an exercise and/or caloric restriction intervention. METHODS: A total of 947 adults with dyslipidemia (STRRIDE I, STRRIDE AT/RT) or ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Interindividual Differences in Trainability and Moderators of Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Waist Circumference, and Body Mass Responses: A Large-Scale Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis.

Journal Article Sports Med · December 2022 Although many studies have assumed variability reflects variance caused by exercise training, few studies have examined whether interindividual differences in trainability are present following exercise training. The present individual participant data (IP ... Full text Link to item Cite

Differential Effects of Amount, Intensity, and Mode of Exercise Training on Insulin Sensitivity and Glucose Homeostasis: A Narrative Review.

Journal Article Sports Med Open · July 14, 2022 As type 2 diabetes remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, identifying the most appropriate preventive treatment early in the development of disease is an important public health matter. In general, lifestyle interventions incorporating exercis ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Are flexibility and muscle-strengthening activities associated with functional limitation?

Journal Article Sports Medicine and Health Science · June 1, 2022 This retrospective cohort study examined the relationship between self-reported participation in flexibility and muscular strengthening activities and the development of functional limitation (i.e., once an individual has difficulty with or becomes unable ... Full text Open Access Cite

Abstract P080: Health-related Quality Of Life Predictors Of Exercise Intervention Dropout

Conference Circulation · March 2022 Introduction: Though many individuals know the health benefits of participating in exercise, few report sufficient activity to meet the US 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines. Current research assessing ... Full text Cite

Calorie restriction improves lipid-related emerging cardiometabolic risk factors in healthy adults without obesity: Distinct influences of BMI and sex from CALERIE™ a multicentre, phase 2, randomised controlled trial.

Journal Article EClinicalMedicine · January 2022 BACKGROUND: For many cardiovascular risk factors there is no lower limit to which further reduction will result in decreased disease risk; this includes values within ranges considered normal for healthy adults. This seems to be true for new emerging metab ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Amount and intensity effects of exercise training alone versus a combined diet and exercise lifestyle intervention on health-related quality of life in the STRRIDE-PD randomized trial.

Journal Article BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care · January 2022 INTRODUCTION: To determine the relative contributions of various amounts and intensities of exercise alone to a combined lifestyle intervention on health-related quality of life (HrQoL) measures. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Participants (n=162) were seden ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Determinants of Dropout from and Variation in Adherence to an Exercise Intervention: The STRRIDE Randomized Trials.

Journal Article Transl J Am Coll Sports Med · 2022 PURPOSE: This study aimed to characterize the timing and self-reported determinants of exercise dropout among sedentary adults with overweight or obesity. We also sought to explore variations in adherence among individuals who completed a 6- to 8-month str ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Exploring Differences in Cardiorespiratory Fitness Response Rates Across Varying Doses of Exercise Training: A Retrospective Analysis of Eight Randomized Controlled Trials.

Journal Article Sports Med · August 2021 OBJECTIVE: This study tested the hypothesis that greater mean changes in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), in either the absence or presence of reduced interindividual variability, explain larger CRF response rates following higher doses of exercise trainin ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Association Between Leisure-time Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Low Back Pain: A Cross-sectional Analysis in Primary Care Settings.

Journal Article Spine (Phila Pa 1976) · May 1, 2021 STUDY DESIGN: Observational cross-sectional. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and low back pain (LBP) in adults from primary care settings, and to explore how sedentary behavior influences this associa ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effects of Amount, Intensity, and Mode of Exercise Training on Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes Risk in the STRRIDE Randomized Trials.

Journal Article Front Physiol · 2021 BACKGROUND: Lipoprotein Insulin Resistance Index (LP-IR) and Diabetes Risk Index are novel spectroscopic multimarkers of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes risk. As the Studies of a Targeted Risk Reduction Intervention through Defined Exercise (STRRIDE ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

The Relation of Accelerometer-Measured Physical Activity and Serum Uric Acid Using the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) 2003-2004.

Journal Article Front Sports Act Living · 2021 Objective: Gout is a crystal-induced inflammatory arthritis caused by elevated uric acid. Physical activity has the potential to reduce serum uric acid (SUA), thus improving the disease burden of gout. In this study, we examined the association of objectiv ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Assessing and Addressing Cardiovascular Health in LGBTQ Adults: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.

Journal Article Circulation · November 10, 2020 There is mounting evidence that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) adults experience disparities across several cardiovascular risk factors compared with their cisgender heterosexual peers. These disparities are posited t ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Associations of self-reported eating disorder behaviors and personality in a college-educated sample.

Journal Article Appetite · August 1, 2020 OBJECTIVE: In order to better understand factors motivating eating disorder (ED) behaviors and better identify persons at-risk for these behaviors, we sought to identify which personality domains and facets were associated with behaviors for weight control ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

169-OR: Differential Effects of Amount, Intensity, and Mode of Exercise Training on the Diabetes Risk Index

Journal Article Diabetes · June 1, 2020 Objective: Examine the effects of amount, intensity, and mode of exercise training on type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk.Methods: A total of 531 men and women with dyslipidemia [STRRIDE I (n=222), STRRIDE AT/RT (n=142) or p ... Full text Cite

Abstract P177: Effects of Gender, Race, and Glucose Tolerance on Lipoprotein Insulin Resistance Index Responses to Exercise Training

Conference Circulation · March 3, 2020 Introduction: Lipoprotein Insulin Resistance Index (LP-IR) is a novel spectroscopic multimarker linked to future diabetes risk. We recently assessed changes in LP-IR across the three STRRIDE trials, w ... Full text Cite

Aerobic, Resistance, and Combination Training on Health-Related Quality of Life: The STRRIDE-AT/RT Randomized Trial.

Journal Article Front Sports Act Living · 2020 Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to determine the differential effects of aerobic training (AT), resistance training (RT), and a combination of aerobic and resistance training (AT/RT) on changes in self-rated HrQoL measures, including the Short- ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

The Association of Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Ideal Cardiovascular Health in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study.

Journal Article J Phys Act Health · November 1, 2019 BACKGROUND: This study examined the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and ideal cardiovascular health (CVH). METHODS: CRF and the 7 CVH components were measured in 11,590 (8865 males; 2725 females) adults at b ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Short-Term Changes in Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Response to Exercise Training and the Association with Long-Term Cardiorespiratory Fitness Decline: The STRRIDE Reunion Study.

Journal Article J Am Heart Assoc · October 15, 2019 Background Substantial heterogeneity exists in the cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) change in response to exercise training, and its long-term prognostic implication is not well understood. We evaluated the association between the short-term supervised trai ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Abstract MP59: The Differential Effects of Amount and Intensity of Aerobic Exercise Training on MVX, a Novel Mortality Risk Multimarker

Conference Circulation · March 5, 2019 Introduction: Metabolic Vulnerability Index (MVX) is a novel spectroscopic multimarker of mortality risk. MVX reflects components of nutrition and systemic inflammation status and is hypothesized to e ... Full text Cite

Ten-Year Legacy Effects of Three Eight-Month Exercise Training Programs on Cardiometabolic Health Parameters.

Journal Article Front Physiol · 2019 Background: STRRIDE (Studies Targeting Risk Reduction Interventions through Defined Exercise) was an eight-month exercise study conducted from 1998-2003. Subjects were randomized to control or one of three exercise groups differing in intensity and amount. ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Evaluating Individual Level Responses to Exercise for Health Outcomes in Overweight or Obese Adults.

Journal Article Front Physiol · 2019 BACKGROUND: Understanding group responses to a given exercise exposure is becoming better developed; however, understanding of individual responses to specific exercise exposures is significantly underdeveloped and must advance before personalized exercise ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) for patients with chronic diseases.

Journal Article J Sport Health Sci · June 2016 Exercise training provides physiological benefits for both improving athletic performance and maintaining good health. Different exercise training modalities and strategies exist. Two common exercise strategies are high-intensity interval training (HIIT) a ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite