Grant: Operating Grant

According to the World Health Organization, 30% of all deaths are attributable to cardiovascular diseases, and represent the second cause of death in Canada with more than 68,000 Canadians dying from such complications yearly. Despite advancements in preventing and managing heart diseases, poly-medication therapies, such as for heart failure, has not decreased significantly the morbidity and mortality rates over the years, suggesting the need for improving drugs. Our research focuses on a class of membrane receptors for the hormone Angiotensin II, which is involved in regulating vascular and cardiac functions. Our research has unveiled the properties of a new class of molecules that act in an unconventional way on these receptors to selectively affect their responses. We propose further characterizing our newly discovered compounds, to iteratively generate more selective and efficacious drugs for limiting vascular hypertrophy, one of the underlying causes of heart failure. Our research should have great impact on drug discovery aimed at cardiovascular therapy.