Grant: Project Grant

Everyone is aware of the impact heart attacks have on peoples quality of life, and ultimately that death due to heart failure is an all too common event. This is particularly true in people who have obesity and/or diabetes. We now understand much about the complexity of the heart, its structure and how it functions. This has also allowed researchers to identify things which change in the heart before a heart attack to cause this event. The changes which occur even after heart attack that cause failure of the heart are also now quite well characterized. You may see these changes referred to as "cardiac remodeling". Only when we know precisely what causes these remodeling events and how they can be controlled will more effective therapies be developed. The research conducted in my laboratory, and in partnership with various colleagues, is designed to understand what causes changes in the structure and function of the heart. Here we will study how a combination of too much 'bad' fat (as found in obesity) together with excess iron levels can predispose the heart to changes that adversely impact function. This will be achieved by making observations in animal models of heart failure together with studies in individual cells from the heart to understand detailed mechanisms. In summary, heart failure is a common and devastating event and my research contributes to our knowledge of why this occurs and how it can be prevented or treated.