New York Tech researchers receive NIH grant to improve the understanding of atherosclerosis
A New York Institute of Technology research team led by Olga V. Savinova, Ph.D., assistant professor of biomedical sciences at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM), has secured a five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The $1.8 million grant, which includes a first-year award of $342,675, will support research to improve the understanding of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and deliver a new treatment for heart disease.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 30 million U.S. adults have been diagnosed with heart disease, which also causes one in every four deaths. Researchers have long believed that atherosclerosis is a risk factor in predicting heart disease-related illness and death. The buildup of calcium salts in blood vessel tissue, known as vascular calcification, is considered an atherosclerosis hallmark, but it is unclear whether calcification causes atherosclerosis or is simply a byproduct. If it is a risk factor, treatments targeting calcification may prevent millions of future heart disease cases and fatalities.