Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has received a $400,000 grant from the American Heart Association (AHA) to help study heart-secreted hormones. The funding, which will be disbursed in yearly increments through 2027, supports CHOP researcher Liming Pei, PhD, who studies heart-derived hormones in physiology and disease, an emerging new field known as "cardiac endocrinology."
"Our hearts secrete hormones that play important functional roles in cardiovascular physiology and disease; however, few heart-derived hormones have been identified," said Liming Pei, PhD, Principal Investigator and Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "This grant will provide critical support for a highly innovative research project that could lead to new and better treatments for those with cardiovascular and metabolic diseases."
The funding will help the Pei Lab develop novel tools and models to discover new heart-secreted proteins and reveal the mechanism and functional importance of these hormones in cardiovascular biology and disease. The researchers hope to significantly advance the understanding of how the heart communicates with the rest of the body and, in doing so, identify new therapeutic targets for cardiovascular diseases and related conditions.
"We, along with the American Heart Association, aspire to advance research that improves cardiac care," said Daniel Kelly, MD, Director of the CHOP Cardiovascular Institute. "This generous grant from the organization will further assist critical research in understanding the heart, advance our understanding of cardiovascular diseases, and help ensure the health and wellness the next generation of children."
