GRANTS. SEK 24 million is being distributed to 26 research projects in Gothenburg focused on cardiovascular and respiratory diseases by the Heart and Lung Foundation. The funds are made possible due to the successful fundraising efforts over the past year. The Foundation is also launching a new initiative for the world-unique research study SCAPIS.
“Despite a challenging economic year, our donors demonstrate how crucial it is for research to continue, saving lives and providing more healthy years of living. I want to thank all the residents of Gothenburg who continue to contribute to life-saving breakthroughs,” says Kristina Sparreljung, Secretary-General of the Heart and Lung Foundation.
The Heart and Lung Foundation is launching a new initiative for the world-unique research study SCAPIS. Half of the participants will be re-examined at six university locations in Sweden, with Gothenburg being one of them. The goal of SCAPIS is to predict who is at risk of conditions like heart attack or stroke and treat them before the disease occurs.
In Sweden, over two million people live with cardiovascular diseases. Despite successful research that has contributed to fewer deaths from cardiovascular diseases today, it remains the most common cause of death in Sweden. Approximately 1.3 million people in Sweden live with some form of respiratory disease.
Congenital heart defects in middle-aged individuals
One of the researchers receiving funding is Zacharias Mandalenakis, associate professor at the University of Gothenburg, who will study the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in middle-aged individuals with congenital heart defects.
“The inspiration for my research comes from my patients with congenital heart defects and their relatives when we meet at the clinic every time. This research is made possible thanks to donations from the Swedish people to the Heart and Lung Foundation,” says Zacharias Mandalenakis.
Due to significant research advancements, the survival of children with congenital heart defects has improved tremendously over the past 40 years. However, growing up with a congenital heart defect entails an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The project will contribute entirely new knowledge about cardiovascular disease and risk factors in middle-aged patients with congenital heart defects.
Support at a distance for frail elderly
Another researcher receiving funding is Inger Ekman, professor at the University of Gothenburg, who will study whether person-centered care at home via phone and digital support leads to higher self-confidence and, consequently, increased self-care for frail individuals over 75 years with the lung disease COPD or heart failure.
COPD and chronic heart failure are diseases that often involve breathlessness and fatigue, causing many patients to be confined to their homes.”
“My research can be illustrated with someone using a smartphone because it involves person-centered remote care (via phone or digital means),” says Inger Ekman.
According to the researchers’ hypothesis, the intervention will lead to increased confidence in one’s own abilities, thereby enhancing self-care, reducing hospital admissions, and decreasing the costs of care for this group of patients.
BY: HEART AND LUNG FOUNDATION
26 projects received funding from the Heart and Lung Foundation
Odd Bech-Hanssen
Fenotypning av pulmonell hypertension vid vänster kammare sjukdom: Studier med ekokardiografi och kardiovaskulär magnetresonans
500 000 kronor (projektbidrag)
Lennart Bergfeldt
Prevention av plötslig hjärtdöd: studier av elektrofysiologiska mekanismer på hög-risk individer och friska personer
800 000 kronor (projektbidrag)
Ewa-Lena Bratt
Enhancing the understanding of care discontinuity in youth who have undergone heart-, lung- or heart-/lung transplantation to improve the care process
800 000 kronor (projektbidrag)
Panagiota Drivelegka
The burden of cardiovascular disease in gout: from clinical associations to the role of gout treatment in primary and secondary prevention.
375 000 kronor (forskartjänst/forskarmånader disputerad)
Inger Ekman
Person-Centred Care at Home (PCC at Home) in frail elderly with COPD and/or CHF: Shifting towards high quality, affordable preventive healthcare
1 115 808 kronor (projektbidrag)
Michael Fu
OPtimizing Aldosterone Receptor Antagonist Therapy by Sodium Zirconium Cyclosilicate in Heart Failure (OPRA-HF)
1 500 000 kronor (projektbidrag)
Gunnar C Hansson
Mobilizing the attached lung mucus layer in copd and chronic respiratory diseases
1 200 000 kronor (projektbidrag)
Clara Hjalmarsson
Pulmonary hypertension: mapping of phenotypes for improved diagnostics, precision treatment, and prognosis
800 000 kronor (projektbidrag)
Mathias Holm
Epidemiologiska studier av obstruktiv lungsjukdom och emfysem i relation till yrkesexponering
500 000 kronor (projektbidrag)
Shafaat Hussain
Circulating micrornas: novel potential biomarkers for diagnosis of myocardial stunning, ischemia, and necrosis in acute myocardial infarction
420 000 kronor (postdoktortjänst/forskarmånader disputerad)
Anders Jeppsson
New onset atrial fibrillation after coronary artery bypass grafting
750 000 kronor (forskarmånader doktorand)
Christina Jern
Blood biomarkers and ischemic stroke outcomes
630 000 kronor (forskarmånader doktorand)
Rikard Landberg
Prevention of cardiometabolic diseases guided by dietary patterns reflected in metabolite biomarker signatures
1 500 000 kronor (projektbidrag)
Kerstin Landin-Wilhelmsen
Aortadissektion hos kvinnor med Turners syndrom i Sverige – 25 års uppföljning av riskfaktorer, hormonbehandling och graviditet
400 000 kronor (projektbidrag)
Malin Levin
Cardiac sphingolipids and their role in the failing human heart
2 400 000 kronor (projektbidrag)
Sara Lindén
Mucins and glycans in the airway: biomarkers, mechanisms for disease and host-pathogen interactions
2 100 000 kronor (projektbidrag)
Zacharias Mandalenakis
Cardiovascular risk factors and risk profile in middle-aged population with and without congenital heart disease (The ACHD-SCAPIS study)
2 700 000 kronor (projektbidrag)
Lillemor Mattsson Hultén
Regenerativa och inflammatoriska mekanismer vid human hjärtsvikt
270 000 kronor (forskarmånader doktorand)
Joakim Nordanstig
Walking new research avenues in the diagnosis and treatment of lower extremity atherosclerotic disease (Nya angreppsätt i diagnostik och behandling av patienter med benartärsjukdom)
2 250 000 kronor (forskartjänst/forskarmånader disputerad)
Anna-Carin Olin
Exploring the composition of the small airway lining fluid using breath analysis
310 000 kronor (forskarmånader doktorand)
Björn Redfors
Re-defining care in acute myocardial infarction – focus on myocardial stunning
600 000 kronor (projektbidrag)
Håkan Roos
Modifierbara faktorer associerade med sen ruptur av aortaaneurysm efter EVAR (EndoVaskulär Aorta Reparation)
1 125 000 (forskarmånader doktorand)
Per Skoog
Renal function after stentgraft treatment of abdominal aneurysm with supra-versus infrarenal fixation (renofix)- a randomized controlled study
1 000 000 kronor (nationellt samverkansprojekt)
Gustav J Smith
Dissecting cellular identities in the human heart and their genomic basis across health and disease
4 800 000 kronor (nationellt samverkansprojekt)
Kristina Vukusic
Stem cells and molecular signaling in cardiac regeneration and disease
800 000 kronor (projektbidrag)
Ding Zou
Co-morbid insomnia and sleep apnea (COMISA) and cardiovascular metabolic consequences
800 000 kronor (projektbidrag)
