UM Cardiologist and Researcher Wins Prestigious Research Award for Heart Failure Study
10/20/2008
Bettina Heidecker, M.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Cardiology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, won the prestigious Jay N. Cohn Clinical Young Investigator’s Award – Clinical/Integrative Physiology for developing a groundbreaking new transcriptomic approach of individual risk assessment in patients with new onset heart failure due to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy or secondary non inflammatory cardiomyopathies. Dr. Heidecker presented her findings and was honored with the award at the Heart Failure Society of America’s 12th Annual Scientific Meeting in Toronto on September 22.
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Bettina Heidecker |
Joshua M. Hare, M.D., chief of the Cardiovascular Division at the Miller School, and a group of scientists from Johns Hopkins University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital worked with Dr. Heidecker on the study, “Genomic Biomarkers for Prediction of Recovery in Heart Failure.” This work significantly advanced previous findings, which were published in the July 15, 2008 edition of the weekly journal Circulation.
Dr. Heidecker used endomyocardial biopsies (small pieces of heart tissue obtained with a catheter) to develop an individual risk score for patients with new onset heart failure, that provides information about their long-term prognostic outcome. “This is a test that lets the doctor, and patient, know what’s going to happen. We can distinguish a patient who will survive and recover from those who are in immediate danger,” said Dr. Hare. “The obvious value is great peace of mind for some, and the ability to treat more aggressively the patient who is in danger.”
After graduating from Medical University Innsbruck in Austria, Dr. Heidecker started as Post-Doctorate Fellow in Cardiology in Dr. Hare’s lab at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In 2007, she moved to the University of Miami as part of Dr. Hare’s team.
“The success of our work on transcriptomic biomarkers shows the high interest and need for personalized medicine in the cardiovascular field,” said Dr. Heidecker. “For a prospective validation of our previously developed prognostic biomarker, we are currently enrolling patients at the University of Miami Hospital and the Jackson Memorial Hospital. I would like to thank all the great people who work with us in the gene expression study as well as the Wallace C. Coulter Center for supporting us with grant funding.”
The Jay N. Cohn Clinical Young Investigator’s Award – Clinical/Integrative Physiology recognizes research excellence in young investigators. In advance of the annual meeting, a special committee of reviewers chooses up the top five submitted abstracts. Then, the finalists are invited to present their research at the meeting and the winner is selected based on scientific importance, quality of research, presentation and response to questions.
Previous findings in this field also earned Dr. Heidecker the prestigious Samuel A. Levine Young Clinical Investigator Award at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions in November 2007.