American Heart Association grants $1.23 million to UK Saha Cardiovascular Research Center

By Olivia Senter

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UK’s Saha Cardiovascular Research Center will receive $1.23 million dollars from the American Heart Association(AHA) through a series of grants.

The money will fund projects for basic cardiovascular science research, nutrition, obesity and genetic conditions pertaining to the heart, AHA communications director Matt Rountree said.

Some projects are scheduled to last two years, others up to June of 2017.

“One of the primary goals of the American Heart Association is to provide state-of-the-art cardiovascular research,” Rountree said. “We are pleased to offer support to the College of Medicine, including the Saha Cardiovascular Research Center.”

The application process is highly detailed, Rountree said. The committee focuses on what the applicants have worked on in their area of study and what they hope to achieve in this area. The grants are awarded to those applicants the committee believes will provide the greatest impact in their field of research.

Eight doctors at the research center will be awarded one of eight different grants, totaling $1.23 million.

“Financial support from the American Heart Association has been an important component in the development of the expansive group of cardiovascular researchers at UK,”said Alan Daugherty, director of the UK Saha Cardiovascular Research Center. “Over the years, their support has been invaluable in promoting careers of many graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty members.”

AHA senior vice president of youth marketing Teresa Woods recognizes the association’s ability to set research, like that of UK’s research department, in motion.

“The American Heart Association plays a dramatic role in making sure researchers get funded,” Woods said.

Rountree said the research center is looking forward to seeing the new medical advances that will develop because of AHA’s donations.