The University of Kentucky has received a $2.2 million national grant to fund heart failure research, including the development of a computerized model of the heart.
The money is from a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant distributed over four years, according to a news release on the funding.
Heart failure occurs when a patient’s heart can’t deliver enough oxygen. UK HealthCare sees about 40,000 of such patients a year.
Cardiologists, scientists and engineers at UK will use this funding to create computer models to optimize the therapy plan for heart failure patients, the release continued.
“This is not about implementing a standard practice,” Kenneth Campbell, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the UK college of medicine, said in the release. “This is about how we can push back the frontiers.”
Campbell, who is also a co-principal investigator (PI) on the NIH grand, said most patients with heart failure typically receive a standardized treatment that includes a beta blocker, an ACE inhibitor and perhaps an SGLT2 inhibitor. Campbell’s team is combining biology, mathematics and engineering to develop personalized therapies that will improve care, the release states.
The computerized model of the heart will grow and evolve over time and can be used to test a combination of potential therapies that work best for each patient.
“Our idea is to create computer models that are tailored to each patient,” Campbell said. “The doctor will press a button, and a couple of hours later, get a prediction that their patient will do best with this particular set of drugs and surgical interventions. That combination will be different for you. It’ll be different for me. It’ll be different for each person.
The UK College of Medicine’s Alliance Research Initiative helped Campbell, whose primary expertise is in the molecules of the heart, forge connections with experts in cardiology and mechanical engineering to catalyze progress.
Other partners on this project include Emma Birks, professor of medicine at UK College of Medicine, and Dr. Gaurang Vaidya, assistant professor at UK College of Medicine.
Jonathan Wenk, Gill associate professor at UK College of Engineering, and Lik Chuan Lee, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Michigan State University, are also co-PIs on the project. They are leaders in computer modeling of beating hearts.
“In 10 years’ time, cardiologists won’t have to give everybody the same standard therapies,” Campbell said. “They will use a computer to develop personalized treatment plans that will help each one of their patients to live better.”
The money will also fund postdoctoral fellows and provide new learning opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students.
