The Mid-Atlantic Affiliate of the AHA has just granted two awards to young post-doctoral fellows to help them commence their careers in cardiovascular disease research.   Julio Altamirano, Ph.D., of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, will study changes in cardiac cell signaling systems that might explain diminished heart performance in cardiac failure.  These investigations may lead to better drug therapies to improve cardiac performance and slow the progression of cardiac failure.   Siamak Ardekani, Ph.D., of The Johns Hopkins University in Maryland will develop new mathematical formulas based on heart images to analyze changes in heart shape and motion.  Dr. Ardekani will explore whether these formulas can be used to assess patients at risk for sudden cardiac death. 

In the future, the Mid-Atlantic Affiliate of AHA will grant two additional awards to postdoctoral fellows to support their transition from research training to independent scientific work on cardiovascular disease.  In addition, the National Center of the AHA will select and fund two highly promising scientists working to become fully independent investigators.

“We are very excited about cooperating with the American Heart Association.  Our combined efforts will have a powerful effect on research and will enable us to reach out together to improve the quality of people’s lives,” said Brian K. Regan, Ph.D., President of the AHAF Board of Directors.

“Our shared goals made the partnership between AHA and AHAF a natural, and we are looking forward to finding even more ways to combine resources and make a real difference in people’s health in the years to come,” said David Markiewicz, Executive Vice President of the American Heart Association’s Mid-Atlantic Affiliate.

On January 1, 2008, two National Center Scientist Development Grant awardees will be chosen to receive $308,000 each for 2008-2012 to help bridge the gap between completion of research training and readiness for successful competition as independent investigators.  Awardees will be faculty/staff members initiating research careers, usually at the rank of instructor or assistant professor, and must have faculty/staff appointment at activation. Two more Mid-Atlantic Affiliate postdoctoral awards will also be awarded next year, to be used July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011. 

The American Health Assistance Foundation (AHAF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to finding cures for age-related and degenerative diseases by funding research worldwide on Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration and glaucoma.  AHAF also provides the public with information about these diseases, including risk factors, preventative lifestyles, available treatments and coping strategies.