The Maryland Heart Center is constantly conducting new research to investigate the causes of heart disease and find new ways to treat it, thereby improving the care and treatments we offer our patients.
Several examples of the cutting-edge research being performed by Maryland Heart Center experts are listed below.
Dr. Dickfeld's research focuses on novel approaches to make the ablation of abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia) more successful, especially complex arrhythmias such as ventricular tachycardia and atrial fibrillation, which have had only moderate treatment success in the past.
In close collaboration with the Department of Radiology and Division of Nuclear Medicine, we are able to approach these abnormal heart rhythms in novel and comprehensive ways by using computer tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET) and three-dimensional ultrasound. This allows the physician to visualize the heart in completely new ways and can be used for the development of new treatment strategies. These novel concepts are being evaluated in computer simulations and animal studies and are partially already available to improve patient care.
Dr. Gottlieb's investigations center on the physiology of congestive heart failure. This has included a particular interest in the impact of heart failure on kidney function. Ongoing research includes testing of investigational agents that might improve kidney function (such as adenosine antagonists and vasopressin antagonists) and whether new ways of removing fluid (such as ultrafiltration) might be safer and more effective.
Heart failure may be affected by other diseases. Thus, we are studying the effects of depression on heart failure and the results of treatments. Similarly, we are evaluating sleep abnormalities in heart failure patients.
The Cardiomyopathy Service has looked at the effects of telemonitoring in improving heart failure outcomes. The proper use of new lab tests (such as BNP) are also being investigated. We are also testing new devices to overcome poor heart function.
Lab Personnel
Using models of cardiac transplantation, Drs. Mandeep Mehra and Ashwani Khanna investigate the role of tobacco exposure on rejection, cardiac allograft vasculopathy and renal failure by studying inflammatory and oxidative stress pathways. These studies will serve to pave the way for clinical studies of new biomarkers specific to tobacco smoke risk, provide insight toward novel targets of therapy and open the door for the clinical trials in the setting of chronic atherosclerosis and acute coronary syndromes.
For additional information about the research objectives of the laboratory, click here.
Mandeep Mehra, M.D., is the Herbert Berger Professor of Medicine and Chief of Cardiology.
Ashwani Khanna, Ph.D., laboratory director, is an associate professor of medicine (cardiology).
Willem J. (Wijo) Kop, Ph.D., an associate professor of medicine (Cardiology) and director of the recently developed Behavioral Cardiology Program at the University of Maryland Medical Center, investigates effects of depression and mental stress on the immune system and blood clotting factors. His research focuses on cardiovascular diseases and other disorders where fatigue plays a major role.
These studies involve psychological evaluation for depressive disorders and hostility using Structured Clinical Interviews as well as controlled procedures to induce mental stress. The general scope of the behavioral cardiology program is to identify the biological mechanisms by which psychology factors affect disease outcomes, and to what extent these relationships are mediated by health behaviors, such as exercise.
Dr. Kop is actively involved in the fields of psychosomatic and behavioral medicine and health psychology. He has served on several NIH review panels and the editorial boards of Health Psychology and Psychosomatic Medicine. Dr. Kop is the recipient of the 1998 Early Career Award of the American Psychosomatic Society and the 2002 Outstanding Contributions to Health Psychology Award from the American Psychological Association.
Lab Personnel
See Dr. Kop's selected references
Dr. Liggett is at the forefront of researchers into genetic variations that may help explain the effectiveness of heart failure medications known as beta-blockers in different people.
a research team led by investigators at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis concluded that a genetic variation, found predominantly in African Americans, protects some people with heart failure, enabling them to live longer than expected. See related news release for more information.
Previously, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver identified a common genetic variation that could help determine whether a person with heart failure would benefit from beta-blockers, a class of drugs used to treat chronic heart failure. The findings are significant because it often takes several months to determine if a specific beta blocker is working for a patient.
"For the first time, we have a genetic test that will help guide us to the best treatment for individual patients with heart failure and provide what has been called personal medicine," says the study’s principal investigator, Stephen B. Liggett, M.D., professor of medicine and physiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and director of its cardiopulmonary genomics program. See related news release for more information.
Does adding a form of long-acting niacin to one of the most common cholesterol lowering drugs do a better job of delaying the onset of heart attack, stroke, blocked arteries or death from cardiovascular disease? That is the question that University of Maryland cardiologists hope to answer as they participate in a national study. The study, called AIM-HIGH, is a multi-center, randomized, double-blind clinical trial that compares a combination of extended-release niacin plus simvastatin to simvastatin alone.
Michael Miller, director of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center and associate professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine is the study’s principal investigator in Maryland. For more information click here.
We use a systems approach to investigate the biochemical mechanisms that regulate myocardial energy metabolism and cardiac function in health and disease. The main areas of research in my lab include the following:
Role of myocardial energy metabolism in cardiac failure. We investigate the role of energy metabolism and diet in the development and progression of heart failure. We are particularly interested in the role of fatty acids on metabolic phenotype, left ventricular remodeling, and cardiac function. The effects of acute and chronic metabolic therapies are assessed in models of heart failure and hypertension, and emphasis is place on the development of new pharmacological and dietary treatments for these conditions.
Regulation of cardiac energy metabolism during stress. This work focuses on the biochemical regulation of glycolysis and mitochondrial function during ischemia and exercise. We have developed novel in vivo experimental preparations and in silico computer models to assess the biochemical response to stress. Our overall goal is to gain a more mechanistic understanding of the regulation of cellular energy metabolism during stresses like exercise and ischemia, and identify novel targets for treating stress-induced cardiac dysfunction in heart disease patients.
Lab Personnel
See Dr. Stanley's selected references
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