Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have received a $4.7 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to study heart disease in patients with diabetes. The study is led by Jean Schaffer, MD, the Virginia Minnich Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Director of the Diabetic Cardiovascular Disease Center and Diabetes Research Center.
“We’re particularly interested in why people with diabetes suffer from unusually severe forms of heart disease” says Schaffer.
Schaffer and her colleagues suspect a likely culprit is abnormal metabolism of lipids, a class of molecules that include fats, such as fatty acids and triglycerides. The research will include a clinical trial for patients with Type 2 diabetes to examine whether a drug that lowers blood lipids improves heart function.