LSUHSC awarded $10M+ COBRE grant

The funding will support four research projects and one pilot project of LSUHSC junior faculty investigators. Junior faculty are Eric Lazartigues, PhD, LSUHSC Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, T. Cooper Woods, PhD, LSUHSC Instructor of Pharmacology who is also a Staff Scientist at Ochsner Clinic Foundation, Catalin Filipeanu, MD, PhD, LSUHSC Assistant Professor-Research of Pharmacology, Jerome Breslin, PhD, LSUHSC Assistant Professor of Physiology, and Developing Investigator Hernan Bazan, MD, LSUHSC Assistant Professor of Surgery.

Dr. Lazartigues' project will examine a newly discovered component of blood pressure regulation called ACE2 to determine its significance in the development of hypertension. Dr. Woods's project will help to explain why diabetics who have stents placed in their coronary arteries are at increased risk for re-stenosis or reclosure of the arteries. Dr. Filipeanu's project will study how specific proteins in cells of blood vessels cause excessive contraction which leads to discoloration and pain in the fingers and toes of patients with Raynaud Phenomenon. Dr. Breslin's work will increase our understanding of the basic mechanisms of blood-tissue exchange and the potentially life-threatening fluid leakage involved in inflammation, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and sepsis. Dr. Bazan's project is designed to fill major gaps in our knowledge regarding the process of carotid plaque instability and rupture resulting in stroke.

"In the state of Louisiana, the incidence rate for cardiovascular disease is disproportionately high, particularly for African-Americans," said Sidney A. McNairy, PhD, Associate Director of NCRR's Division of Research Infrastructure.

According to the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Health Statistics, an estimated 79.4 million American adults, or one in three, have one or more types of cardiovascular disease. These include high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, and congenital cardiovascular defects. Cardiovascular disease is the #1 killer in America, with an average death of one death every 36 seconds. Cardiovascular disease claims more lives each year than cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, accidents and diabetes mellitus combined.

According to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospital's and the American Heart Association's 2005 Louisiana State of the Heart and Stroke Report, cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke, was the number one killer of Louisianians in 2002, accounting for 35% of all deaths. In 2002, Louisiana had the ninth highest mortality rate due to cardiovascular disease and twelfth highest mortality rate for stroke when compared to all states and D.C.