Unraveling the Mysteries of Heart Disease
Faculty Profile: D. Woodrow Benson, Cardiology
Despite the fact that twice as many children die from heart disease than from all types of cancer combined, physicians and scientists know relatively little about what causes the most common congenital defect in the United States. Research by D. Woodrow Benson, MD, PhD, in the Cincinnati Children's Division of Cardiology, seeks to identify the genes and their mutations that produce heart disease in children.
Until recently, cardiologists and cardiac surgeons have attributed childhood heart disease to a random occurrence of natural events. In spite of the success achieved in repairing defects and treating disease, Dr. Benson and his colleagues believe more can be done for children. In a unique approach utilizing patient bedside and laboratory bench research, they are using molecular genetic techniques to study individuals with heart conditions and their families, with the goal of finding the genetic origins of heart disease.
Eventually, Dr. Benson believes, this knowledge will lead to new options for diagnosis and treatment. After scientists learn what causes heart disease, physicians will be able to identify at-risk individuals. Treatment can become less crisis-oriented as doctors work to modify their patients' risk.
To date, Dr. Benson has identified genes involved in both heart defects and abnormal heart rhythms. The finding that two genes -- a transcription factor and a potassium channel -- can cause both types of defects was unexpected. Currently under investigation is how they work to create the problems.
In addition, Dr. Benson and three colleagues (including two from Cincinnati Children's) recently were awarded a five-year, Specialized Centers of Clinically Oriented Research (SCCOR) grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the genetic and developmental basis of valvular heart disease. This new project will build on Dr. Benson's work with the potassium channel and transcription factor, looking for additional genes that cause diseases of the heart valves. Of all the applications submitted nationwide for the SCCOR in Pediatric Heart Disease, the proposal from Cincinnati Children's received the highest score.
