The Adult Congenital Heart Association (ACHA) has announced its second round of research grants to fund four new projects taking place across the country. This brings the total commitment for ACHA’s emerging research program to 10 grants totaling $300,000 since the program launched just two years ago.
As the only national patient advocacy organization specifically funding adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) research only, ACHA aims to partner with specialized medical professionals to improve patient outcomes for current and future generations of ACHD patients.
“Research has always brought about progress in medicine, and this has led to the great success in the survival and outcome of the children born with congenital heart disease,” says Arwa Saidi, MB, BCh, MEd, ACHA Medical Advisory Board Chair. “It is now our duty to continue to improve the quality of life and access to care in the adults with congenital heart disease. ACHA has inspired medical teams to pursue necessary research and through funding and infrastructure, has provided the platform for us to do so.”
The goal of this second round of research grants is to inspire fellow and young investigators, and to provide them seed money to delve into their first research projects surrounding adults with CHD. As the ACHA research program grows, it remains an integral part of the organization’s five pillars, along with awareness, accreditation, advocacy, and education.
“We are proud of the way the research program has expanded in just a few short years,” said Mark Roeder, ACHA President and CEO. “The application and review process developed by our Medical Advisory Board—which includes both medical and patient reviewers—ensures that ACHA’s research program will always align with the needs of the ACHD population. Our initial investments have already yielded discoveries and new learnings, and we look forward to escalating the impact of our research program in the coming years.”
The following one-year ACHD early investigator grants, which began July 1, 2021, are jointly funded by ACHA, the Meil Family Foundation, Project Heart, the Dale Amorosia Heart Fund, and the Brad's Heart of a Jayhawk Research Fund:
- Intrahepatic Transcriptomics Discriminate Advanced Fibrosis in Patients with the Fontan Circulation, Katia Bravo-Jaimes, MD, Ahmanson/UCLA Adult Congenital Heart Disease Center, Los Angeles, CA
- Renal Functional Reserve in Adults with a Fontan Circulation, Adam Lubert, MD, Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH
- Novel Remotely-Monitored Home-Based Cardiac Physical Activity Program Using Real-Time Data for Patients with Fontan Circulation, Prashob Porayette, MBBS, MS, University of Iowa Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program, Iowa City, IA
- Our Care Wishes – Adults with Congenital Heart Disease (OCW-ACHD), Lynda Tobin, CRNP, and Yuli Kim, MD, Philadelphia Adult Congenital Heart Center, Penn Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
To learn more about the first round of ACHA’s research projects, click here.
ACHA is the only nonprofit in the country dedicated solely to the unique needs of nearly 2 million adults born with heart defects, the most common birth defect in the United States, diagnosed in one in 100 births. These adults are living longer today with one of the many varying types of congenital heart defects that range among simple, moderate, and complex—which was not a reality 20 years ago.