The American Heart Association has awarded $2 million in Merit Awards to two prominent researchers investigating the complex relationship between diabetes and cardiovascular health. Dr. Ann Marie Schmidt from NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Dr. Elizabeth Selvin from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health will each receive $1 million over five years to advance scientific understanding of these interconnected chronic conditions.
Dr. Schmidt's research will concentrate on understanding how white blood cells contribute to diabetic complications. Her team will explore a protein molecule called the 'receptor for advanced glycation end products' (RAGE), which may explain how diabetic white blood cells damage the body. By studying mouse and human white blood cells, the researchers aim to develop potential new treatment therapies that could mitigate diabetes-related health risks.
Dr. Selvin's research will focus on improving cardiovascular health for individuals with diabetes. Building on her previous groundbreaking work establishing hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) diagnostic criteria, she will now investigate continuous glucose monitors and their associations with cardiometabolic risk in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients.
The Merit Award represents one of the most prestigious competitive research grants in cardiovascular science. As the largest non-government funder of cardiovascular research in the United States, the American Heart Association has funded over $5.9 billion in scientific research since 1949.
Keith Churchwell, the Association's volunteer president, emphasized the critical nature of this research, noting that diabetes is a major controllable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. With the prevalence of both conditions rising, understanding their interconnections becomes increasingly important for developing effective prevention and treatment strategies.
These research initiatives align with the American Heart Association's mission to advance health and transform lives by providing innovative scientific insights that could potentially improve screening, diagnosis, and patient care for millions of individuals affected by diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The organization's funding commitment reflects the urgent need to address these interconnected health challenges through targeted scientific investigation.
