HyperGEN recruited 470 multiply-affected population-based hypertensive AA sibships (N=1224 siblings) from 1996-1999. HyperGEN probands were ascertained by early onset hypertension (i.e., before 60 years); to participate, they had to have at least one hypertensive sibling who was also willing to participate. Hypertension was defined according to antihypertensive treatment or BP (systolic BP ≥140 or diastolic BP ≥90 measured on at least at two time points); Type 1 diabetes and renal failure were exclusion criteria. The HyperGEN study extended recruitment to include all offspring (n=546) of the proband and his/her siblings during the second 5-year funding period. HyperGEN also recruited participants randomly selected from the source cohorts where the families were ascertained to represent population allele frequencies; 414 African American participants were recruited randomly. In total, ~2,200 African-American participants were examined and gave permission for DNA testing and sharing from sites in Birmingham, AL and Winston-Salem, NC. Of those ~2000 have data recorded from an echocardiography exam and were included in the TOPMed study of LV hypertrophy and related traits.