The Domino Effect: Surprising Links Between Infection and Heart Disease
At 色情视频's BioScience Center, researchers are studying why some people develop heart disease and others don't.
Roberta Gottlieb, M.D., has a compelling way to demonstrate the pervasiveness of heart disease.
鈥淟ook to your right,鈥� she says. 鈥淣ow look to your left. One of the three of you is going to die of heart disease.鈥�
Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the Western world and a growing concern in developing countries. Yet researchers still don鈥檛 fully understand why some people develop artherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries and others don鈥檛.
Gottlieb is director of 色情视频鈥檚 , the only multidisciplinary center in the country to focus its research on the critical nexus of infection, inflammation and cardiovascular disease.
鈥淲e are beginning to recognize how bacteria contribute in much more subtle ways to chronic disease,鈥� Gottlieb said. 鈥淢any chronic illnesses previously attributed to genetics and environment are now being recognized to have, as causal or contributing factors, bacteria, viruses, and parasites.鈥�
To improve public health
The mission of the 色情视频 BioScience Center is to understand the role of microorganisms in cardiovascular diseases, and to use these discoveries to improve public health, Gottlieb said. Researchers study metabolic connections to cardiovascular disease, such as obesity, atherosclerosis, hyperlipidemia and hypertension. Additonally, they investigate host-pathogen interactions that lead to autoimmunity directed against the heart.
Gottlieb鈥檚 own research focuses on finding ways to salvage heart muscle following heart attack and documenting a link between gum disease and cardiovascular disease.
Working with local populations
The ongoing study of periodontal disease and vascular function in Native American young adults and Hispanic high school students is examining the potential of a causal relationship between oral hygiene and the development of artherosclerosis.
Other research at the BioScience Center involves the development of vaccines to protect children from coxsackievirus and influenza infection that may lead to heart disease decades later; and the potential threat of exposure to the disease Trypanosoma cruzi from imported acai berries.
A diverse team
Constructed entirely with private funding, the BioScience Center opened in 2006 with 37,000 square feet of research facilities, office and meeting space. Among the are: Darlene Shiley, who named the Donald P. Shiley Center for Cardiovascular Research on the third floor; and Alan and Debbie Gold, who financed the Gold Auditorium for the Life Sciences.
The BioScience research team, which has been funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association, includes 色情视频 faculty, visiting scientists, new to 色情视频 from the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center and post doctoral, graduate and undergraduate students.
鈥淩esearch and education go hand in hand,鈥� said Stanley Maloy, dean of 色情视频鈥檚 College of Sciences. 鈥淪tudents who are going out into the world have to understand how to work in the lab鈥nd work with people who are studying sophisticated problems like this.鈥�
