Research Highlights
An highlight for the Division of Cardiology, part of The Heart Center at Cincinati Children's Hospital Medical Center, during the past academic year was the awarding of a Specialized Center for Clinical Oriented Research (SCCOR) Grant to D. Woodrow Benson, MD, PhD. This $13.4 million NIH grant was submitted in collaboration with the Division of Molecular Cardiovascular Biology and will establish a research center to study the genetic causes of heart valve disease in childhood.
Dr. Benson's SCCOR Grant is entitled "Molecular Mechanisms of Valve Development and Disease" and consists of 4 projects and 2 cores. The objective of this grant is to identify new genetic loci linked to valve disease and to define the molecular bases of valve defects so that patient risks can be assessed and new therapeutic approaches designed. Valvar heart disease, referring to malformed or malfunctioning cardiac valves, is a common clinical problem carrying substantial morbidity and mortality.
In the US alone, valvar heart disease has a prevalence of 1-2%; nearly 100,000 valve replacement operations are performed annually, and approximately 40,000 deaths occur each year related to heart valve disease. Valve malformations are frequently recognized as birth defects, but clinically significant valve disease may be recognized at any age. A growing body of evidence suggests that valve disease discovered later in life may also have origins during valvulogenesis.
The central hypothesis of Dr. Benson's SCCOR Grant is that valvulogenesis "building block" genes (e.g. extracellular matrix proteins, signaling molecules, transcription factors, etc.) are major genetic loci for valvar heart disease. This hypothesis challenges a common tenet that the etiology of valvar disease is congenital if it is detected during fetal or perinatal life, but acquired (degenerative) if it is detected at a later age.
