The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC), sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is a prospective epidemiologic study conducted in four U.S. communities.  ARIC is designed to investigate the causes of atherosclerosis and its clinical outcomes, and variation in cardiovascular risk factors, medical care, and disease by race, gender, location, and date. To date, the ARIC study has published over 2,000 articles in peer-reviewed journals.  ARIC includes two parts: the Cohort Component and the Community Surveillance Component PDF Logo.